Terrifying GoPro footage shows moment 'man is nearly eaten' by tiger shark

Jaw-dropping footage of the moment shows the moment a man was caught blindsided and almost eaten by a tiger shark.

The footage was originally uploaded to YouTube back in May 2023, though the passage of time has not made the clip any less terrifying.

Local fisherman Scott Haraguchi was involved in a near-death encounter with a shark, as it rammed into his kayak off the coast of the American island of Hawaii.

But clearly, Haraguchi knew what he was doing, reacting quickly and using his foot to try and kick the shark's eye to get it to flee.

He can be heard screaming 'Tiger shark! Tiger shark rammed me!' in the video, which was uploaded to the channel Hawaii Nearshore Fishing.

The footage is enough to make you jump (Hawaii Nearshore Fishing via Storyful)

Since being uploaded, it has accumulated over 2.6 million views and over a thousand comments, as viewers were naturally intrigued by the shark attack.

At the end of the video, he wrote: "Dunno how I did that but my foot actually pushes the shark off near its vulnerable eye.

"Thank you Jesus!"

Taking to the description to explain the situation in more depth, he told subscribers that the ordeal took place on 12 May 2023 on the 'Windward side of O'ahu', which is part of the Hawaiian island chain and also home to the state capital, Honolulu.

According to the kayaker, he was just '55ft' and 'less than two miles from shore' when the apex predator appeared.

He explained further: "Heard a 'whooshing' sound, looked up and saw a wide brown thing on the side of the kayak. Thought it was a turtle at first. Happened so fast."

The man also revealed he 'didn't realise' it at the time, but he took his left foot out of the water to brace himself from impact and 'actually pushed the shark's head off with it'.

Now that's what I call a real-life man versus beast situation.

According to KITV4, Haraguchi was not sure what 'prompted' the encounter but said he noticed 'what appeared to be a wounded seal' shortly after the incident took place.

"He believes the shark may have mistaken his kayak for its wounded prey," the outlet reports.

He expertly managed to kick near the shark's eye (Hawaii Nearshore Fishing via Storyful)

Haraguchi continued: "If you asked me to do that again, even without the shark, I don't think I'd have that flexibility. I actually only thought the shark rammed the kayak until I saw the video at home."

The video has since received dozens of comments from viewers left in total shock by the footage.

One social media user wrote: "That’s insane! Happy that you’re safe!"

A second commented: "I'm so glad that you are okay. I literally screamed when it attacked you. I probably would have passed out and my body found somewhere in the deep blue."

"Amazing how fast that attack was initiated. No time to do anything but panic. Glad you were ok," echoed a third.

A different user joked: "This is why I go surfing in my swimming pool. Waves are a bit underwhelming, but safety is tip top!"

Talk about a close shave.