Aussie Shark Incident

Tuesday, 16 October 2007 12:19 | Written by Reuters

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[Editor: I was quite reluctant to run this story because mainstream news sites tend to report incidents like this in a sensationalist way with little focus on the facts! For example only one of the many reports in the Aussie press describes how the paddler was knocked off - apparently the shark bit the back of her ski and shook it.

But after receiving about a dozen emails from people all over the world I figured that I'd better put something up!

The bottom line is that (as far as I know - and I've documented quite a number of these incidents) no surf ski paddler has ever been seriously hurt in interactions with these creatures, so without taking anything away from what was obviously a scary experience, you're far more likely to be injured driving to the beach than in any interaction with the men in gray.

Here in Cape Town we paddle in some of the most Great White-infested waters in the world - and I've only ever seen a single shark - which scared the s#$t out me admittedly - but the thing was actually just cruising along minding its own business!

But to think of stopping paddling because of sharks would be illogical.

Anyway - here's the story according to a Reuters correspondent.]

Great White Shark (Photo: Terry Goss)

SYDNEY, Oct 15 (Reuters) - An Australian woman fought off a Great White Shark on Monday after it knocked her into the water from her surf ski at a popular tourist beach.

"I thought this is it"

"I thought this is it, he is going to grab my leg. I had my blade (paddle) and I just kept punching, punching, punching," Linda Whitehurst told local television.

Whitehurst suffered only small lacerations on her right arm in the fight with the 2.5-metre (eight-foot) shark, before scrambling back onto her surf ski and paddling to shore at Byron Bay's famous surfing beach "The Pass" on Australia's east coast.

"The shark circled the kayak (surf ski) and then swam directly at her," police inspector Owen King told local radio.

Defended herself with her paddle

"She was able to (defend herself from) the shark by striking it in the mouth with the paddle from the kayak. The shark then took off and swam away from her." Whitehurst was about 150 metres (450 feet) from shore.

Boats patrolled the area looking for the shark and people were advised not to go in the water. The beach reopened a few hours later.

Lifeguards said the attack was the second incident involving a Great White in less than a week.

"There was a similar incident last Tuesday when a man in a kayak was menaced by a Great White, about eight to 10 foot long, at Wategos Beach, just the next beach around from where this woman was attacked today," said lifeguard Stephen Leahy.

The attack was the second in Australia in three days.

A 31-year-old man was bitten by a bronze whaler shark on Saturday while spearfishing off a charter boat on the Great Barrier Reef.

Great Whites - protected species

Sharks, even Great Whites, are protected in Australia.

An Australian abalone diver miraculously escaped a Great White Shark attack in January after the shark half-swallowed him head first.

The diver's lead weight vest saved his life by stopping the shark's teeth from biting him in half and the shark then released the diver.

Australia had six shark attacks in 2006, according to the U.S.-based International Shark Attack File. There were 62 shark attacks worldwide in 2006.