Watch: Diver Gets Hunted By A Great White Shark

Good thing the camera was attached to a speargun.

On September 1, college student Tyler McQuillen was diving off the coast of Santa Barbara, California when he felt something hit him from behind, sending him tumbling (you can see all the commotion around the 1:24 mark in the video above). At first, McQuillen thought the hit was benign—perhaps a friend playing a prank. Soon, however, he realized his foot was bleeding and a great white shark was circling him.

The shark continued to swim around McQuillen after the initial attack. Luckily, the student was armed with a speargun (to which his GoPro camera was attached). On the shark’s second circle, McQuillen jabbed the animal with the speargun and it swam off.

Lucky to be alive, McQuillen made his way back to shore as quickly as he could, escaping with nothing more than a couple broken toes. In the video at the top of the page you can hear his relief as he emerges from the water:

“Got it on video! Woo! Fucking gnarly!”

Gnarly, indeed. Check out McQuillen’s shark-bitten toes: