Kayaker Was Stranded in Shark-Infested Waters in California National Park. Then, Tiny Rescuers Appeared

“Wave!” Chuck Graham’s fellow guide, Zack, screamed. Graham turned around to find himself face-to-face with an enormous comber. The giant wave rolled towards him and whipped away his kayak, leaving it capsized. Graham attempted to paddle through it, but the brunt of the force rendered him helpless. Just above a shallow reef, he got swallowed up by the frothy white water.

Somehow, he managed to resurface, only to be encountered by another wave; this one was smaller though. After the waves fizzled out, he glanced over the water and spotted his kayak a bit far away. In what he called a “side-breaststroke,” he plunged into the water. It was September, a time of the year when these waters are invaded by great white sharks. Graham took a deep breath and prayed for his life. Almost miraculously, some creatures surfaced on the scene to guide him towards his kayak, he shared in an exclusive piece for BBC Discover Wildlife.

San Miguel is tucked away 31 miles off the coast of Santa Barbara, in California’s Channel Islands National Park. It’s a dab of wilderness sitting in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, enrobed in undulating grass-laced hills, white dunes, eroding sea bluffs, volcanic crater lakes, fumaroles, and glittering blue waves whose rising and falling rhythms shake up the sage scrub plants fringing the coastlines.

Around these coasts, northern elephant seals treat themselves to deep-diving, spending hours dipped in cool waters while shedding old skin and hair. Dolphins and porpoises glide around feeding on younger fish, while sea lions bask on rocky outcrops, drying up their dripping bodies in the sun. Lazy sea otters tread through lush kelp forests. Point Bennett, the island’s western tip, hosts one of the largest rookeries of pinnipeds. When Graham ventured on this trip with Zack, his goal was to document these pinnipeds as well as catch up with some young seal pups.

Graham had been guiding the kayak trips around the Channel Islands for the past 24 years, but never before had he encountered a storm so powerful that it left him stranded this way. “On my previous paddles, their enthusiasm has been relentless, and they’ve playfully splashed me with their long pectoral and tail flippers,” he recalled about the seals from his previous experiences.

This time, however, the pups seemed too busy to pay attention to a stranger in a strange kayak. So, he stashed the camera gear in two drybags and rode along the unruly waves, close to the shore, to photograph seals. That’s when the comber engulfed him. By the time the wave had retreated, and he was ready to dive back into the waters, the incessant fear of the patrolling sharks was lingering inside him. As if by some miracle, dozens of seals surfaced around him, straining their necks to get a better look at him, swimming close to him, like “a protective escort.” After returning to the safety of his kayak, Graham finally got some shots of the fearless, protective creatures before they, too, were gobbled up by the breaker. “Crisis avoided at Point Bennett,” he said.

More on Green Matters

Leopard Seals Sing Songs In Search of Love And It Resembles ‘Human Nursery Rhymes’

Scientists Find Rare Monk Seals Using a Hidden Underwater Language that Defies all Expectations

A Scientist Kayaked to Remote Arctic to Study Microplastics. What He Found in the Ice Was Worse