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Flying Shark Headbutts Florida Man While Surfing (Video)

Originally posted on SURFER | By Dashel Pierson | Last updated Jun 30, 2025 3:16 PM ET

It’s common knowledge that surfing in Florida comes with the risk of shark interaction, especially with regards to New Smyrna Beach, aka the “shark bite capital of the world.”

But the shark encounters in NSB usually involve sightings and the occasional nip, and they’re typically from black tip and bull sharks. It’s such an unsurprising occurrence, in fact, that more than a few surfers get gnawed every season.

The following surfer, however, had a different shark experience entirely while surfing NSB recently. He got smacked – headbutted, one might say – by a flying spinner shark. See the footage, and hear his tale of what went down below.

“I was just really happy its mouth wasn’t open, because that’s how they fish,” explained Darren Kaye, the victim of the shark slap, whose chyron reads rather comically “hit by shark.” Kaye continued: “I got right back on my board and my pulse went to about 195 in a second. I paddled as fast as I could right out of the way.”

The grainy footage, likely snagged from a Surfline cam, shows the shark flying out of the water, spinning, and colliding with Kaye right in the face. And although he reported no injuries, he was pretty shook from the force of the impact. Kaye continued:

“It felt like getting hit by a car. It was really strong and powerful. They’re all muscle.”

Apparently, the spinner shark is unique in its practice of leaping out of the water, and twirling its body. Per the non-profit Oceana: “A fast and agile predator, the spinner shark feeds unlike any other shark species by spinning out of the water in quick bursts of speed to catch a meal.”

As for Kaye, the incident didn’t stop him from paddling back out. He added:

“We surfed there the rest of the weekend. We surfed there this morning. We surfed there yesterday afternoon. We always have waves, so, we’re lucky.”

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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