‘It was incredible’ Couple has close encounter with shark while kayaking on San Carlos Bay

Sandrine Fontaine and Arnaud Fontaine come to Southwest Florida twice a year from France, and they try to spend every day kayaking out on the water.

They recently spent two weeks in the area and Sandrine said they saw all kinds of aquatic life.

“We were kayaking in Carlos Bay because we have an Airbnb there, and so every day, we were kayaking to see dolphins and manatees,” Sandrine Fontaine said.

They typically see dolphins and manatees, but on May 10, they encountered something a bit different: a shark. They called it a close encounter.

Unlike the reaction many might have to coming inches away from a shark, the couple called the experience incredible.

“It was not aggressive. It was going always around, but closer and closer. So I said ‘stop’ to try to see him,” Sandrine said. “We were very curious. We love nature. We were not scared because we recognized that this was not a white shark or bull shark. We didn’t know at this time exactly what kind of shark It is, but we knew that it was not a very aggressive shark. So no, we were not afraid.”

WINK News showed Harry Maisch, an instructor in the Department of Marine and Earth Sciences at FGCU’s Water School, a video of the shark, and he said it appeared to be a Lemon Shark.

“Based on the coloration of shark seen in the video, it seems to be on the lighter side. Bronzish, yellow color. It has sort of a rounded snout. It was a fairly narrow-bodied shark. It had two primary dorsal fins. The second dorsal fin was quite large compared to the first, which is leading me to believe it’s a lemon shark,” Maisch said.

Sandrine described the shark as being very curious. Another characteristic Maisch said Lemon Sharks possess.

“From personal experience, I’ve had lemon sharks swim pretty close to me while snorkeling and spearfishing. They’re really inquisitive.” Maisch said. “They want to know what’s going on and, you know, if you don’t have any fish in the water or anything, they’re probably just coming to check you out, and will leave you right alone. So they’re smart animals.”

Sandrine said the shark was very calm, and they’re excited to add a shark to the list of aquatic animals they’ve seen up close and personal.

“We saw lots of dolphins with babies and a lot of manatees. That is so incredible for us, because in France we don’t have that. So it’s incredible,” Sandrine said.

• RELATED:Gulf Coast Humane Society plans to build new veterinary clinic