An Oregon man surfed on more than just his board Monday - he actually stood atop a thrashing Great White shark for several terrifying seconds.

Doug Niblack was surfing off the coast of Seaside, Ore., when his board hit what he initially thought was a rock. But when he looked down, he saw a dorsal fin and soon realized he was directly on top of the world’s most fearsome shark. Then, the beast’s tail began thrashing and Niblack jumped off and paddled to shore.

“It was pretty terrifying just seeing the shape emerge out of nothing and just being under me,” he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “And the fin coming out of the water. It was just like the movies.”