Shark Stories
old-dog wrote:Everyone I've spoken to lately is heading to Rio straight after Xmas, it could be busier than Mooses birthday bash. Hope no fights break out over camp sites like the other year.
Old-dig. Hi mate, hope you’re well.
So, you are saying there will be no ‘Mardi Gras’ in Rio, probably more like Pamplona’s ‘Running of The Bulls’, well I hope not.
Better get underway early and get there quickly.
Earlier this year in January, we arrived on the 17th, only a few camps. AW
AlfredWallace wrote:old-dog wrote:Everyone I've spoken to lately is heading to Rio straight after Xmas, it could be busier than Mooses birthday bash. Hope no fights break out over camp sites like the other year.
Old-dig. Hi mate, hope you’re well.
So, you are saying there will be no ‘Mardi Gras’ in Rio, probably more like Pamplona’s ‘Running of The Bulls’, well I hope not.
Better get underway early and get there quickly.
Earlier this year in January, we arrived on the 17th, only a few camps. AW
@AW , I’ve another story from the late 70s , this bloke turned up with his new bride from vic , honeymoon in cactus, can you believe it ? Surf was absolutely pumping and he spent so much time surfing that she got bored . One of the local lads that I will call F , paid her the attention she was craving , long story short , after a week she bolted across the nullabour to Perth with F . Poor vic chap came in from a surf one morning , to find his bride had done the harold holt . He was shattered and inconsolable . Seriously with zero women in the area , taking the new bride to cactus wasn’t the best choice for a honeymoon destination .
Howdy Alf, one Xmas we sat in the car for 2 days waiting for a site big enough for our massive tent to become available, and even then some eastern brown hipsters tried to snake us. Good luck, I'm sure you will have a great time kicking back in Gods own country. Cheers mate.
Full Volume. . . Evil
old-dog wrote:Howdy Alf, one Xmas we sat in the car for 2 days waiting for a site big enough for our massive tent to become available, and even then some eastern brown hipsters tried to snake us. Good luck, I'm sure you will have a great time kicking back in Gods own country. Cheers mate.
Old-dog. Hi mate.
Loving your insights and local knowledge of the place.
I’ll be certainly kicking back that’s for, I’m as cool as a sea cucumber, malice gets you nowhere.
If you haven’t already realised, I can talk, I’m sure I can talk my way in or out of any arising issue/issues.
We will certainly have a great time kicking back in Wallace & Darwin’s own country. All the best. AW
yorkessurfer wrote:A few interesting stories on shark attacks and near misses on the Shark Shield report so I thought I would start this thread. Don't want to trivialize the subject as people have had their lives taken or changed forever by what can happen. I thought it might serve as an educational purpose by hearing others experiences so we may all learn from them and hopefully avoid it happening to us.
One of them was a mate of mine named Hazey.
He had been surfing at Castles, a notoriously sharky wave in the bay at Cactus.
Several hundred metres offshore the wave breaks before reforming into Inside Castles making a long left with several sections. The wave has been the scene of several attacks and near misses over the years including the local known as "Sharkbait" who had been attacked more than once.
Gerry Lopez is another who came very close to being attacked out there and vowed to never surf Cactus again after his near miss.
Well Hazey was surfing out the back with another bloke named Steve when out of the blue he was launched into the air still on his board by a huge force from below.
A shark had rammed him with a direct hit straight up into the air! In a moment it was gone but soon returned to the stunned Hazey and started biting him and his board. Hazey instinctively put his arms out to protect himself but both his arms ended up in its mouth. As the jaws closed down his arms could have easily been severed, but several teeth on the sharks lower jaw had become dislodged and imbedded in the board leaving his upper arms with massive injuries, but the vital inner arms where major arteries run were not majorly damaged. This probably saved his life.
By this time Steve had reacted and in a rush of adrenalin and pure ballsy courage he threw himself onto the sharks back and started gouging at the sharks eyeballs, eventually feeling one pop and the shark departed.
Steve got the two surfboards together and got himself and Hazey on and started the long paddle to shore.
Then they were both thrown into the air as the shark rammed them a third time before disappearing again. They continued to make their way closer to shore and the shark nudged them again. Steve told me he thought he really must of pissed it off when he popped its eye.
Finally they we're just a metre from shore when the shark made its fifth and final appearance. It beelined towards them and the shore while they stood in waist deep water with their boards. The sharks mouth was just rapidly opening and closing like one of those wind up sets of false teeth. The boys separated and put their hands on either side of it's body and held it on a 90 degree angle to the beach as they made the final steps to the safety of the sand.
Hazey was rushed to Ceduna hospital and then flown to Adelaide for micro surgery on his shredded arms.
Steve ended up receiving a bravery award and they both sold their story to 60 minutes and made $50,000 each out of it!
It was quite a story!
Yorkesurfer. Hi fella. I don’t know how long ago, but I have heard that story before.
Incredible they survived, having the mindset amongst fury and panic to pop an eyeball has to be adrenaline fuelled instinct .
So glad they got to tell their story and make a buck.
I suppose they are just grateful to both be alive. Good stuff. AW
Supafreak wrote:AlfredWallace wrote:old-dog wrote:Everyone I've spoken to lately is heading to Rio straight after Xmas, it could be busier than Mooses birthday bash. Hope no fights break out over camp sites like the other year.
Old-dig. Hi mate, hope you’re well.
So, you are saying there will be no ‘Mardi Gras’ in Rio, probably more like Pamplona’s ‘Running of The Bulls’, well I hope not.
Better get underway early and get there quickly.
Earlier this year in January, we arrived on the 17th, only a few camps. AW
@AW , I’ve another story from the late 70s , this bloke turned up with his new bride from vic , honeymoon in cactus, can you believe it ? Surf was absolutely pumping and he spent so much time surfing that she got bored . One of the local lads that I will call F , paid her the attention she was craving , long story short , after a week she bolted across the nullabour to Perth with F . Poor vic chap came in from a surf one morning , to find his bride had done the harold holt . He was shattered and inconsolable . Seriously with zero women in the area , taking the new bride to cactus wasn’t the best choice for a honeymoon destination .
Supafreak. Hi to your and your family.
Can’t wait to get over to NL and meet you all next June/July.
That’s some story, not surprised at all. It’s the kind of place that could do that to you. I think many a surfer has parted company via a surfing scenario, myself included.
But geez, on ya honeymoon?
Well, what’s that saying, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
In that place, it’s not so green, but from a very social activity perspective, it certainly can be very ‘green’. .AW
Yes looking forward to catching up . My wife and I have separated but remain very good friends . She & my daughter live with family in Legian plus the 4 bedroom house we built near Kubu ( north east Bali ) my daughter comes over for school holidays and I catch up with her when I’m in Bali . So I’m a free man except Indonesian school holidays. Had some fun waves today once the westerly stopped blowing around 8.30 am . Crowds are slowly thinning out .
Scuba gear and a noose?
Jeez, they've got it easy over there.
The bit where he was telling his mate to look behind him was classic.
tubeshooter wrote:Scuba gear and a noose?
Jeez, they've got it easy over there.The bit where he was telling his mate to look behind him was classic.
What a classic. Such irony, the occurrence was in a place named Safety Bay, WA.
You’re shitting me, fucking hilarious. AW
All the big Noahs seem to frequent that stretch AW.
Not sure if it's the allure of the Waikiki hospital nearby that touches on a little Hawaiian nostalgia, or the stench of the Warnbro HungryJacks, McDonalds and KFC.
Could also be that penguin Island kinda sticks out in deep water and they kinda have to pass it so have a little sniff on the way through.
I'd be way more sketched out surfing the Perth coast than the southern coast tbh.
Especially once that arvo glare sets in.
southernraw wrote:All the big Noahs seem to frequent that stretch AW.
Not sure if it's the allure of the Waikiki hospital nearby that touches on a little Hawaiian nostalgia, or the stench of the Warnbro HungryJacks, McDonalds and KFC.
Could also be that penguin Island kinda sticks out in deep water and they kinda have to pass it so have a little sniff on the way through.
I'd be way more sketched out surfing the Perth coast than the southern coast tbh.
Especially once that arvo glare sets in.
Southernraw. Hi mate. How’s your study and guitar practice coming along ?
Yes, clear waters of the Perth coast to me would be more dangerous than the murky south.
Give me murky water over clear anytime.
They can’t line you up so well.
My bro use to live at Vasse, WA, often remarked about the uncertainty principle. AW
There's a line of outer reefs there with the odd punctuation and the noahs follow the reefs and come into the coast at certain points. Safety bay over the sea grasses was where one of the fatalities occurred, a dad and son snorkelling iirc
My bro has the shark flightpath mapped, sussed it from interactions and great knowledge of fishing the area. It's the season right now. Those divers are nuts.
velocityjohnno wrote:There's a line of outer reefs there with the odd punctuation and the noahs follow the reefs and come into the coast at certain points. Safety bay over the sea grasses was where one of the fatalities occurred, a dad and son snorkelling iirc
My bro has the shark flightpath mapped, sussed it from interactions and great knowledge of fishing the area. It's the season right now. Those divers are nuts.
VJ . Hi mate,
Thanks, that’s a nice little insight. I’m going to do some further reading about that area. Cheers. AW
Also just north of Penguin Island/Warnbro sound/Safety bay is Garden Island, inside of which is about as sheltered a bay as the N/S running Perth coast can get, Pink Snapper spawning area (and time, from September onward). It all adds up.
AW - "Sense of Place" by George Seddon for Swan coastal plain, but you already know this. The outer reefs today which run along a lot of the metro coast - all the way north up to the midwest - block a lot of the swell going in, and would have been hills in times of much lower coastlines around last ice age.
Other good Perth suburban names: Cockburn (pronounced Coburn), Innaloo, Upper Swan
Cheers AW.
Hey VJ, anyone know if there's waves on Garden Island? Seems to have the same exposure as Rotto.
velocityjohnno wrote:AW - "Sense of Place" by George Seddon for Swan coastal plain, but you already know this. The outer reefs today which run along a lot of the metro coast - all the way north up to the midwest - block a lot of the swell going in, and would have been hills in times of much lower coastlines around last ice age.
Other good Perth suburban names: Cockburn (pronounced Coburn), Innaloo, Upper Swan
These are the exact reason why i don't think WA is the best state for surf in Australia. Most of the coast is literally blocked by bombies. Apart from a few parts of the coast that stick out like Margs, Kalbarri, Exmouth and the NW and Albany which has no reefs, it's a wave starved region.
Vicco actually has much more surfable coast both East and West and i'd almost say more so than NSW...but NSW still probably takes the cake for the most surf rich state. Not gonna mention the unmentionable as a potential contender.
Bro reckons metro coast largely fished out compared to other sections of west coast (anecdotal - fishing charters there having to go further out, but compare it to between Leeman and Dongara to see how you fish, for eg), so noahs get to this stretch and it's largely bare of food...
southernraw wrote:Cheers AW.
Hey VJ, anyone know if there's waves on Garden Island? Seems to have the same exposure as Rotto.
I can neither confirm nor deny
Ah forgot to answer AW.
Study done for the year. Seem to have pulled it off pretty well thanks.
And everyday is a school day on the guitar.
It's like surfing. There's no ceiling and no conquering it...not where i currently stand anyway! I'm probably a better guitar player than surfer though. haha.
velocityjohnno wrote:southernraw wrote:Cheers AW.
Hey VJ, anyone know if there's waves on Garden Island? Seems to have the same exposure as Rotto.I can neither confirm nor deny
Such a military answer VJ! :-P
velocityjohnno wrote:AW - "Sense of Place" by George Seddon for Swan coastal plain, but you already know this. The outer reefs today which run along a lot of the metro coast - all the way north up to the midwest - block a lot of the swell going in, and would have been hills in times of much lower coastlines around last ice age.
Other good Perth suburban names: Cockburn (pronounced Coburn), Innaloo, Upper Swan
Vj. You’re telepathic, I’m reading my copy again right at this very moment.
George Seddon is second on my ladder as a life hero. What a guy.
As I’ve stated previously, I had a 20 min chat with him over lunch in the early 90’s at the inaugural Australian Landscape Design Conference.
One of his other books , Landprints is also a great read.
Any interested WA or Perth people should read ‘Sense of Place’ to get a real understanding of where you live.
In summary, Perth should never have been built where it is today.
Read the book to find out why. AW
southernraw wrote:These are the exact reason why i don't think WA is the best state for surf in Australia. Most of the coast is literally blocked by bombies. Apart from a few parts of the coast that stick out like Margs, Kalbarri, Exmouth and the NW and Albany which has no reefs, it's a wave starved region.
Vicco actually has much more surfable coast both East and West and i'd almost say more so than NSW...but NSW still probably takes the cake for the most surf rich state. Not gonna mention the unmentionable as a potential contender.
There are gaps in the Westcoast where the outer bombies back off (will not mention) or they get close enough to mix it up and be close to shore, and pretty good reef setups exist - had many years of surfing such areas but my goodness some of it was lonely and sketchy when viewed from today's era of sharkiness. I'd agree overall with what you say re: Vic, one reason why I'm where I'm at.
I can think of a couple of unmentionables, both not the soft option...
velocityjohnno wrote:southernraw wrote:Cheers AW.
Hey VJ, anyone know if there's waves on Garden Island? Seems to have the same exposure as Rotto.I can neither confirm nor deny
Haha I can confirm there were none the day some mates took me around there, ended up surfing a reef about 5kms out from Carnac Island.
velocityjohnno wrote:southernraw wrote:These are the exact reason why i don't think WA is the best state for surf in Australia. Most of the coast is literally blocked by bombies. Apart from a few parts of the coast that stick out like Margs, Kalbarri, Exmouth and the NW and Albany which has no reefs, it's a wave starved region.
Vicco actually has much more surfable coast both East and West and i'd almost say more so than NSW...but NSW still probably takes the cake for the most surf rich state. Not gonna mention the unmentionable as a potential contender.There are gaps in the Westcoast where the outer bombies back off (will not mention) or they get close enough to mix it up and be close to shore, and pretty good reef setups exist - had many years of surfing such areas but my goodness some of it was lonely and sketchy in today's era of sharkiness. I'd agree overall with what you say re: Vic, one reason why I'm where I'm at.
I can think of a couple of unmentionables, both not the soft option...
VJ. My bro on KI , years back, crayfished for quite awhile in the Abrolhos Islands archipelago. Loved it, hard work. Saw waves others don’t talk about, also saw huge Noah’s at sea and often back on those rickety piers and timber huts amongst the reefs when unloading. AW
Thanks for the hot tip on the read AW. Will try to hunt it down.
True that @VJ but thought i'd stick tot he main hotspots.
And should note, what WA lacks in vastness of surf.....well.....yeah ;-)
Victoria is so lucky to have Carrum and Williamstown. Offshore everyday of the year and if unlucky, there's always the tub!
Epic book!
So it must've been the late 90s when we noticed the sharks becoming more noticed on the metro coast, I got on TV in 97 for paddling around at 2nds after that ski had been chomped.. It was 2000 when Ken Crew was taken at North Cott (this is part of shark highway where we reckon they come into the shore...) I would start to just go swim at the pool in September, as the winter swells eased off the metro reefs, and started behaviour like surfing clear beachies so I could see what's coming. Soon after, career opportunities sent me (and fam!) all over Oz and perspective and experiences grew lots. But metro coast is the start of my surfing, I love those closeouts and little reefs to bits. Leighton was jewel in crown for winter shape, believe it or not surfs had A frames in 92 before the suburb went in and stabilised the sand (and hence I learned about how to stuff up a coastal geology to make surf close out!), and it was possible to drive a Kinga in on the beach from golden bay, have a fire going on the beach in winter after the surf. We'd drive every track we could when north of Perth and found a couple of shapely little gems. Last year I sent what I thought was a little metro gem wave pic into the SN crew, and I think they laughed...
AlfredWallace wrote:VJ. My bro on KI , years back, crayfished for quite awhile in the Abrolhos Islands archipelago. Loved it, hard work. Saw waves others don’t talk about, also saw huge Noah’s at sea and often back on those rickety piers and timber huts amongst the reefs when unloading. AW
Abrolhos is unreal. Such history too. Tame fish surrounding the kids and the kids swimming with them, little wrasse coming up to look at you, snorkelling to drop offs and going 'nope'... Corals too, bright purples and greens so far south (Leeuwin current). Yep deckie is hard work with 55kg pots, did this very briefly and I'm not strong enough! But what a life. We did a flight one time and had a sea eagle under our legs on the way back in the plane - it was an injured young one headed to the vet in Gero.
Noah potential size there is huge. The attack on the poor young fella there, oh wow.
And waves - yeah and wind!
Classic stuff VJ.
Great to read.
And yep.,can testify to Golden Bay. I've been tubed there!!
southernraw wrote:Thanks for the hot tip on the read AW. Will try to hunt it down.
True that @VJ but thought i'd stick tot he main hotspots.
And should note, what WA lacks in vastness of surf.....well.....yeah ;-)
Victoria is so lucky to have Carrum and Williamstown. Offshore everyday of the year and if unlucky, there's always the tub!
SRaw. University of WA Publishing. It’s been available at a reduced price 25-30 bucks from memory. AW
Cheers mate @AW.
velocityjohnno wrote:Epic book!
So it must've been the late 90s when we noticed the sharks becoming more noticed on the metro coast, I got on TV in 97 for paddling around at 2nds after that ski had been chomped.. It was 2000 when Ken Crew was taken at North Cott (this is part of shark highway where we reckon they come into the shore...) I would start to just go swim at the pool in September, as the winter swells eased off the metro reefs, and started behaviour like surfing clear beachies so I could see what's coming. Soon after, career opportunities sent me (and fam!) all over Oz and perspective and experiences grew lots. But metro coast is the start of my surfing, I love those closeouts and little reefs to bits. Leighton was jewel in crown for winter shape, believe it or not surfs had A frames in 92 before the suburb went in and stabilised the sand (and hence I learned about how to stuff up a coastal geology to make surf close out!), and it was possible to drive a Kinga in on the beach from golden bay, have a fire going on the beach in winter after the surf. We'd drive every track we could when north of Perth and found a couple of shapely little gems. Last year I sent what I thought was a little metro gem wave pic into the SN crew, and I think they laughed...
VJ. Remember I wrote about 13th and its lack of sand replenishment because of the bitumen road, your little anecdote about Perth and its housing expansion and suburbs is the same, a complete lack of replenishment because wind paths get altered and changed , in some cases get blocked entirely, same old, same old.
We will never learn. Albeit, I think here in Oz we are beginning to pay way more attention these days to coastal geomorphologies and outcomes.
Zenagain in Japan states that the government there has no clue and continually underestimates the power of the natural world, time after time they still don’t get it. AW
Coast hugging roads, seawalls and Marram Grass.
The sand bank lovers nemesis!
Out of interest there's a family of magpies at the westernmost end of the 13th road, near the blue rocks T intersection and the wind turbine. Always see how they are going when I go to 13th.
What would it take to resituate the road up in the dune at 13th? Probably impossible with landholdings on the other side of the dune. But think of the sandbank quality (actually 13th is pretty good when compared to other places, it has shape, there are underwater rock formations that help it out like those at Beacon making the sandbank just beyond them into that great takeoff area)
What happened at Surfs Beach, it was stark, turned the thing into a closeout which really sucked as it was such a good resource for the metro area, could have good quality beachies with gutters, a frames etc beforehand.
stark or stirk?
I'm about to commission a mural.
he all good in his latter day home garden phase?
velocityjohnno wrote:What happened at Surfs Beach, it was stark, turned the thing into a closeout which really sucked as it was such a good resource for the metro area, could have good quality beachies with gutters, a frames etc beforehand.
Was actually surfing there when the scrappers started to level the dunes to sea level ironic as the rangers used to chase kids on their motorbikes through the same dunes.
Being around before dinosaurs a big change has been the serious destructive fronts in winter no longer come that's what help create the blue holes at surf beach.
A few interesting stories on shark attacks and near misses on the Shark Shield report so I thought I would start this thread. Don't want to trivialize the subject as people have had their lives taken or changed forever by what can happen. I thought it might serve as an educational purpose by hearing others experiences so we may all learn from them and hopefully avoid it happening to us.
One of them was a mate of mine named Hazey.
He had been surfing at Castles, a notoriously sharky wave in the bay at Cactus.
Several hundred metres offshore the wave breaks before reforming into Inside Castles making a long left with several sections. The wave has been the scene of several attacks and near misses over the years including the local known as "Sharkbait" who had been attacked more than once.
Gerry Lopez is another who came very close to being attacked out there and vowed to never surf Cactus again after his near miss.
Well Hazey was surfing out the back with another bloke named Steve when out of the blue he was launched into the air still on his board by a huge force from below.
A shark had rammed him with a direct hit straight up into the air! In a moment it was gone but soon returned to the stunned Hazey and started biting him and his board. Hazey instinctively put his arms out to protect himself but both his arms ended up in its mouth. As the jaws closed down his arms could have easily been severed, but several teeth on the sharks lower jaw had become dislodged and imbedded in the board leaving his upper arms with massive injuries, but the vital inner arms where major arteries run were not majorly damaged. This probably saved his life.
By this time Steve had reacted and in a rush of adrenalin and pure ballsy courage he threw himself onto the sharks back and started gouging at the sharks eyeballs, eventually feeling one pop and the shark departed.
Steve got the two surfboards together and got himself and Hazey on and started the long paddle to shore.
Then they were both thrown into the air as the shark rammed them a third time before disappearing again. They continued to make their way closer to shore and the shark nudged them again. Steve told me he thought he really must of pissed it off when he popped its eye.
Finally they we're just a metre from shore when the shark made its fifth and final appearance. It beelined towards them and the shore while they stood in waist deep water with their boards. The sharks mouth was just rapidly opening and closing like one of those wind up sets of false teeth. The boys separated and put their hands on either side of it's body and held it on a 90 degree angle to the beach as they made the final steps to the safety of the sand.
Hazey was rushed to Ceduna hospital and then flown to Adelaide for micro surgery on his shredded arms.
Steve ended up receiving a bravery award and they both sold their story to 60 minutes and made $50,000 each out of it!
It was quite a story!