WILMINGTON, N.C. — A Wilmington man was paddling along the Waccamaw River last weekend when he had a close encounter with an alligator -- and his Go-Pro camera was rolling.
In the video, you can see the tip of Peter Joyce's blue kayak. Then, from the left, a large gator quickly swims toward the kayak and lunges.
It was enough to roll the kayak, sending Joyce into the water.
“I thought I heard a fish jump to my left,” Joyce explained. “Turned out not to be a fish. About three feet from the kayak I made out the head of the gator and that was it. I had no time to react.”
“My mind was playing catch-up at that point,” he added. “Basically, when I made out the head towards the front end of the kayak it was kind of just a state of shock. As soon as it hit the kayak and went under I was like, ‘What just happened?’”
Joyce was able to grab hold of a tree after the kayak rolled and get himself upright. He said he's seen alligators before while paddling, but this run-in gave him a newfound respect for the reptile's power.
“You know, usually they would make a splash or they would move and make a ruckus in the water,” Joyce said. “But this was a continuous charge from about 20 feet away. So it definitely made me think a little bit differently about what their capabilities are.”
Cox Media Group
