![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/M4JH5MOYWNDH3JQNRAFSRLL6NE.jpg\")
A shark circles the paddlers. Picture: Nigel Connellan (NIGEL CONNELLAN) <\/p>\nA peaceful early-morning paddle in the ocean near East London resulted in a frightening encounter for two 18-year-olds on Monday when their small boat was circled by two sharks, one of which came so close that its tail struck them as it swam away.<\/p>\n
The couple, Noah Honey and Tessa Waterson from Kwelera, set out before sunrise, hoping to start their day with a calm paddle \u2014 unaware that the trip would turn into what Honey described as a frightening experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started our paddle at about 5.30am; our starting point was at Yellow Sands, and we were paddling to the coast of Glengariff. Around 7.30am, that is where we were approached by the shark,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Shortly before this, adventurous open-ocean swimmer Honey decided to jump into the water for a brief swim during the paddle.<\/p>\n
I decided to just lie in the water \u2014 that is when she spotted a fin behind the boat, and that is when I decided to get back in.<\/p>\n
\u2014 \u00a0Noah Honey<\/p>\n
\u201cI took a few light stretches underwater. My girlfriend decided to be playful and paddle away, but I managed to reach her. <\/p>\n
\u201cI decided to just lie in the water \u2014 that is when she spotted a fin behind the boat, and that is when I decided to get back in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Honey said the first shark disappeared beneath them as he climbed back onboard, unaware that a second shark was also approaching.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first shark was swimming in front of us, then went underneath our boat, [and] disappeared,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the second shark that approached us from behind, where it came on our left-hand side of the boat. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter approaching us very slowly, it came sideways and just swam right next to us, as if it was very curious.\u201d<\/p>\n
A shark circles the paddlers. Picture: Nigel Connellan (NIGEL CONNELLAN) <\/p>\n
He said they tried to remain calm while the shark moved alongside them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe both got hit in the head by its tail as it was getting away, but we got away with no injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n
He described the sharks as either small great whites or bull sharks and estimated their length at more than two metres.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looked bigger than the boat that we were in, and it almost tipped the boat over. I didn\u2019t see any chipped fin or pointed nose.\u201d <\/p>\n
Honey said it was his first scary encounter with a shark, but it would not deter him from swimming.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy girlfriend was a bit shaken up, and it will be difficult getting her back in the ocean, but we will manage to convince her.\u201d.<\/p>\n
After the incident, the couple turned their craft back towards Yellow Sands instead of continuing on to Glengariff.<\/p>\n
Colder water <\/p>\n
Buffalo City Metro marine biologist Siani Zahn said sightings of great white sharks and other species along the Eastern Cape coastline were possible now because of the recent low water temperature.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am aware we have had very cold water temperatures lately, and great white sharks are conducive to colder water, and a lot of the species they prey on can also be found in cold water. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a chance that they have been attracted to the area based on those conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Second sighting<\/p>\n
Daily Dispatch climate and environment reporter Mike Loewe said a separate shark sighting was reported the same morning by one of four open-ocean swimmers off Chintsa beach at about 8am. <\/p>\n
The swimmer said he saw a shark of about 1.9m approach from the open sea before passing beneath him and disappearing towards the shore.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is visiting from Joburg and was the only one not wearing an electric shark shield. Being an excellent swimmer, he had gone out ahead by a few metres,\u201d Loewe said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe all spoke. The creature was gone, showed no interest in us, so we decided to carry on with our 2km swim.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe felt it was a rare privilege to have had an encounter with this incredible marine wildlife in its natural environment. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf it had shown interest, we would have left the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Joeys bud definitely stayed in his lane for the rest of our adventure!\u201d \u2014 additional reporting by Mike Loewe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A peaceful early-morning paddle in the ocean near East London resulted in a frightening encounter for two 18-year-olds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[2952,5049,1692,5054,1693,5051,5046,5047,5053,5050,5055,5045,5048,5052,131],"class_list":{"0":"post-7042","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-south-africa","8":"tag-buffalo-city-metro","9":"tag-cold-water-sharks","10":"tag-east-london","11":"tag-east-london-paddle","12":"tag-eastern-cape","13":"tag-eastern-cape-coastline","14":"tag-glengariff","15":"tag-great-white-shark","16":"tag-great-white-sharks","17":"tag-kwelera-couple","18":"tag-marine-wildlife","19":"tag-noah-honey","20":"tag-open-ocean-swimmer","21":"tag-shark-sighting","22":"tag-south-africa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}