Shark attack survivor and surfer Mike Coots: 'The ocean has given me much more than it's taken away'

"I remember using these crutches on the hot sand, and the crutches would just sink halfway every step and it was just like this struggle to get to the ocean. As soon as I got to the water line and was able to put the crutches to the side and use my knees to crawl back into the water, it was the most incredible feeling to be able to ride waves with my friends again."

Just five weeks after being attacked by a shark, resulting in the then teenager losing his right leg above the knee, surfer Mike Coots was back in the water, not to confront any fear but just because he missed his Hawaiian ocean playground so much.

"That was the most difficult part of being out of the water," the now 38-year-old told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview in January ahead of the start of the World Surf League Championship Tour, which starts in his backyard on 29 January at the Banzai Pipeline.

"It wasn't missing a limb. It was just missing the waves. It sounds silly, but it was true. My friends had come every day to the hospital or to my bedside telling me about how good the waves were that day, and it was just eating away at me."

Back in the water he did go, with his life alongside sharks stemming from that fateful day.

• How to qualify for surfing at Paris 2024

Shark attack initiates career change

Eighteen-year-old Coots had been surfing on his home island of Kauai and had just spied a wave coming his way.

Trailing his fingers in the surf, anticipating the wave, "That's mine", he thought.

A passing tiger shark thought otherwise.

"I don't think I really had time to get scared. There was nothing leading up to it. It was an ambush attack. It came out of nowhere.

"Maybe if I would have seen a dorsal fin from a couple hundred yards away coming towards me that fear would build in but because it just instantly happened and its jaws were on my legs and I was punching it and it was swaying me back and forth, I didn't really have time to get scared.

"So, the shark attack itself wasn't that scary, and it wasn't painful in any way. I just felt an immense amount of pressure, I felt zero pain, and then it was over, and I was on the beach, and my friends were making tourniquets and saying prayers for me and rushing me to the hospital.

"On the beach, I thought I was going to die and that wasn't scary either. I just felt a really calm feeling. I wasn't scared of death. It's hard to explain, but it wasn't scary one bit."

Nevertheless, his life had changed in an instant.

Wouldn't change a thing, says shark attack survivor Mike Coots

Coots was bodyboarding on that October day, and instead of continuing his trajectory of competing at endorsement events, and potentially turning pro like his friends, his life took a rather different turn.

Turning to his other passion of photography, a subject he'd majored in at art school, the thought began to take shape of capturing the iconic creatures, with an important message of conservation at its heart.

"The mission of my shark photography is to dismantle misconceptions, foster empathy, and weave a narrative of sharks that’s authentic," posted Coots on Instagram alongside a selection of the stunning arty photos he's taken of his protagonist. "Along with just showing how dang gorgeous they are."

In 2022, the International Fund for Animal Welfare reported that every year humans kill around 100 million sharks. Overfishing is the biggest threat, with a third of all shark species threatened with extinction.

Vital in maintaining underwater ecosystems by helping to control prey numbers, the removal of an apex predator would have a catastrophic impact.

The connection Coots is fostering through his photography, therefore, is increasingly important in their conservation.

Fully cognisant of the irony of protecting the creature that nearly took his own life, Coots says of his life now as a shark photographer and conservationist: "I feel an immense sense of purpose in what I do.

"I feel like the luckiest amputee in the world, and I would not change a thing. I would still have gone surfing that morning knowing I'd get attacked, knowing the life that I would have."

A second close encounter

Having spent his entire childhood in the ocean, transcending from surfing to being behind the lens was a natural step.

Spending as much time as possible free-diving (that is, without a cage and on a single breath) to take photos of the creature that attacked you, not so much.

But the power of his words and actions hold sway, particularly because of what happened to him.

"Often my heart beats underwater as fast as the shutter clicks – although it comes from a place of love and not fear," posted Coots.

Not surprisingly, there have been further close calls, including one which Coots describes as his scariest shark encounter yet, and yes, that does include the attack itself.

"That one got so close, the autofocus went out," posted Coots alongside a video of a Great White heading straight for him.

"So that was probably my scariest shark encounter I've had in my life," laughed Coots talking of the time he was lying "prone" in a self-propelled open cage-type vessel driven by someone behind him.

"We were with great whites, and I think the shark didn't like either the vibration or the noise of those scooters. It wasn't because it was hungry. It kept playing a game of chicken with us, would come right towards me, and I'm hanging halfway out of this contraption, and it would do these passes and then turn away.

"And I think it was its third or fourth pass, and the shark came right at me and didn't turn away. I was looking through the viewfinder, and then it got too close for the camera to focus. And then I put the camera down and it opened its mouth and literally went right above my nose with its jaws millimetres away.

"I could feel that power wave off it as it moved and then it turned around, and then slapped its tail in my face and the water went all white with just bubbles.

"I couldn't talk for a couple of hours, I had so much adrenaline. I mean, if it wanted to eat me, it would have, it was just basically saying, 'You know, stop doing what you're doing'. So we stopped."

The big boss was just reminding Coots exactly in whose ocean he was plying his trade.

But if there's anyone who understands sharks are not just mindless killing machines it's Coots.

"I want to show not just the active dramatic shots of sharks breaking the surface and teeth glinting in the jaws but also the everyday shots where a shark is just gliding through the water alongside a tiny fish, the duo in perfect harmony with the tiddler the official teeth cleaner of the shark and therefore not on the menu.

"It’s the in-between moments that often tell the best stories."

Hawaii community shark protection troop

Coots is not alone in his mission to understand the species better and on a mission to protect sharks. Surfing is a sport famed for its community-minded spirit, but even more so on the islands of Hawaii.

Fellow residents, Ocean and Juan Ramsey, are renowned shark researchers, regularly free-diving with Great Whites and tiger sharks in order to learn more about their behaviour. As part of the community protecting sharks, they were super happy to help Coots with his photography ambition.

"Most of what I've learned about sharks, at least the behaviour of sharks, I've learned from Ocean," says Coots. "I owe a huge amount of gratitude to her because I've learned an incredible amount about what sharks do and how to safely photograph sharks and be around sharks, all because of her and her husband, Juan."

Coots was also the first person that fellow shark attack survivor and pro surfer, Bethany Hamilton, saw when she came around after losing her arm to a tiger shark attack while surfing in Hawaii.

"I was by her bedside when she came to after the attack," Coots told us. "It was just me and her when she woke up from post-surgery and we had a little chat just about her getting back in the water, because we were friends prior to her getting attacked. And we surf together all the time. She's like a sister. I see her, maybe two or three times a week and we surf together and chat together.

"If somebody gets attacked, she and I will go to the hospital together to visit them and kind of encourage them. It's just a small club, but it really helps to have people that have been in that situation to encourage you and say it's going to be okay."

When Olympics asks Coots if he has a favourite shark, his answer is twofold.

"To photograph, it would be the Great White for obvious reasons. It's big. It's beautiful. There's not many in the world. It's hard to find places where you can photograph them. They're a bit elusive. They look like dinosaurs. It really looks like you're looking at a prehistoric animal.

"To freedive with, I would say tiger sharks. I love diving with tiger sharks. They're much slower than Great Whites. They're more timid as well. They are a great animal to dive with and to just watch them in the deep blue and the way the light sort of tickles off their back with their stripes. They're very beautiful animals."

Isn't that the type that bit you?

"Yeah," smiles Coots. "Yes, it is."