Men recount terrifying encounter with 19-foot great white shark

CATALINA ISLAND, CA (WTVD) -- Danny McDaniel and Jon Chambers feel lucky to be alive.

It was a normal weekend kayaking trip off the coast of Catalina Island when a great white shark, roughly 19-feet long, came up on the back of the kayak and was inches away from McDaniel. The shark chomped down on his kayak.

"(I) felt (a) push of my kayak to the side and I thought Jon was messing with me," said McDaniel when asked to describe the incident in an interview with KGTV.

"(I) look at it and said, 'oh crap, oh crap, oh crap'," said Chambers. "I yelled at him to hit it."

Both just froze in fear while the shark held on to the kayak for several seconds. It eventually loosened its grip before going back under.

Both men said the scare won't keep them out of the water. They even followed through with a scuba diving trip later that night.

"I think I've had my fill of great white sharks; I'm good. But I'm fortunate to have this experience," McDaniel said.