If you’re college student Tyler McQuillen you might want to take a time out from spearfishing, given his close encounter with a great white on September 1.

The incident occurred in Santa Barbara, although at first Tyler said he thought it was a mate playing a prank.

The full video captures the fear of the initial attack perfectly, and if you carry on watching you can see the panic as he swims for the shore and safety.

Start from 1:20 for the beginning of the battle – things escalate very quickly, although thankfully it’s just that one strike from the great white:

Here’s Mashable:

“Extremely lucky to get out of this one alive, McQuillen posted on YouTube. “I saw blood around me and wasn’t sure where it was from, so I swam as fast as I could back to shore.”

McQuillen also shared an image of his foot wounds, which are minimal considering how terribly the situation could have gone. He explains that he didn’t realize [sic] that the shark had bit him at first, but he ended up with two broken toes from the bite.

As far as shark bites go, especially great whites, he seems to have gotten off lightly.

Rather you than me though Tyler, I’ll stick to wading in the shallows.

[source:mashable]