A woman paddleboarding across the ocean described the "surreal" moment a hammerhead shark swam under her board.<br /><br />Malea Tribble, 38, was completing a charity paddleboarding relay with her husband, Ricky, 38, who both work in the casino industry, when their crew spotted the animal swimming nearby.<br /><br />Malea, who works in the casino industry, said she saw her husband's "face drop" and knew immediately what the creature was.<br /><br />Malea, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US, said: "I felt something tap my board and I didn't know what it was. I thought it was a bit of seaweed.<br /><br />"My husband was in the safety boat watching me and when I saw his face drop, I knew what it was.<br /><br />"I think my adrenaline and my instinct took over and I was just focusing on following instructions and not falling off.<br /><br />"I paddled to the side of the boat and the shark swan under the bored and looked right at me.<br /><br />"It was surreal. But there wasn't a moment where I felt unsafe."<br /><br />The couple were taking part in an 83-mile relay race Crossing For Cystic Fibrosis on Sunday 25, June.<br /><br />After starting the journey from Bimini in the Bahamas at midnight, the couple and their safety crew were halfway to Florida when they spotted the shark.<br /><br />Most hammerhead species are fairly small and are considered harmless to humans.<br /><br />According to the International Shark Attack File, there have only 16 recorded incidents between humans and hammerhead sharks since 1900, and of those, there have been zero deaths.<br /><br />Once the shark had swam away the team decided they were able to continue the race and so began paddling once again.<br /><br />Malea said: "We waited a few minutes and met as a group. We discussed and decided to carry on.<br /><br />"The shark wasn't there anymore and we were confident in our abilities.<br /><br />"There wasn't a moment where we felt unsafe. I'm glad I didn't see it at the tome so I didn't allow myself to get nervous.<br /><br />"The shark wasn't aggressive at all. It had every opportunity to knock me off my board if it wanted to but it didn't.<br /><br />"So 10 minutes later we were back on our boards and continuing the race."<br /><br />Founder and Executive Director of The Crossing For CF event, Travis Suit, said: “We are grateful Malea was not harmed and so proud of the calm and disciplined response the Tribble’s had during the situation as paddle mentors in this event, providing a great example of how to handle close encounters like this. <br /><br />"We are visitors when we are in the ocean, it’s really their home, so it’s to be expected.”
