Florida woman on paddleboard handles shark encounter like a champ in wild video

FLORIDA - A Florida woman had a close encounter with a shark off the coast of Florida over the weekend – and it all happened while she was on a paddleboard in the middle of the ocean.

Malea Tribble of Fort Lauderdale was about 35 to 40 miles off the coast of Florida when she felt a "few taps" on the bottom of her paddleboard, she told FOX 35 News. Tribble and her husband Ricky were competing as a relay team in an 83-mile paddleboard race from The Bahamas to Lake Worth on Sunday as part of an annual event to raise awareness and funds for cystic fibrosis.

"I initially felt a few taps on the bottom of my board, but I dismissed it thinking I picked up some seaweed on my fin. I was about 30 ft behind the boat when my husband spotted the shark fin," Tribble said. 

In the video, you can see a shark fin trailing behind Tribble on her board in the Florida Straits while her husband guided her "calmly and safely" onto the boat. Crew members on board said the shark was a hammerhead. 

"Based on his reaction, I knew immediately that it was a shark. I didn’t know how big or where exactly it was," she said.

Photo: Jason Brushaber

The crew on board assessed the situation and decided they were OK to keep going on their race. In the video, you can hear the crew saying the shark probably swam away. 

Tribble said she didn't even think about what happened until she saw the video footage later on. 

"I was surprised that it was bigger and much closer than I initially thought," she said. "At one point in the video, he’s completely under my board. I also noticed how quick and sleek the movements were.  The shark was seemingly just curious what I was in his house."

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Tribble also said she was glad she followed her team's instructions. 

"I never knew I had it in me to be that calm," she said. "Just crazy to think about it all after the fact."

Travis Suit, founder and executive for The Crossing for Cystic Fibrosis event, issued a statement on social media. 

"We are grateful Malea was not harmed and so proud of the calm and disciplined response the Tribble’s had during the situation as paddle mentors in this event, providing a great example of how to handle close encounters like this," he said. "We are visitors when we are in the ocean, it’s really their home, so it’s to be expected."