Shark Stories
Tugun around 2005- I was bodybash'n a neat righthand bank to shore.
All alone along the beach I was until a boardrider joined the session.
All was fine as we traded set waves to shore as no other waves carried the bank.
Boardrider had just taken his set wave & I set my sights on next set wave.
Only that a Shark was obscuring my view! S.H.A.R.K ! About 100m & closing.
You bet I knew what to do...One eye on Shark, swimming backstroke to the bank.
Shark was getting closer as bank was getting further.
That's my story & I'm sticking to it!
Boardrider was fucking around like forever in the Shorebreak.(No hurry!)
By now I reverted to silent low kick sidestroke knowing I was too far from the bank.
Still not within screaming range of boardrider.
That was me done!
The shark was headed straight at me. No gear! Nothing!
I was resigned to playing footsies with Shark's mouth.
Shark was now upon me in the waveline just 10 m away...
Suddenly Shark hooked a left turn south...
Fark me! Only a Shark could scare you half to death like that.
Thankfully the Shark was tailing other prey.
Now I could see the length was around 3m & possibly a Tiger Shark.
Yep! Now my ride shows up to see the fin slicing down the beach.
'Dolphin!' "No! Shark I said & right where you're sitting!"
I've seen 2 more sharks at Tugun with me leaping boardriders ashore both times.
So there you have it! There is such a thing as a nice Shark. Well! Naughty but Nice!
Let off the hook! I feel for those attacked by Shark...All the best for 2019 Bite Club.
Nice bit of reading for your beach holiday
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/03/shark-attack-bitten-...
Great article Blowin,but wish i hadn't read it in a way.Been a while since anything has happened over on the east coast so its easy to start feeling sort of comfortable again....
Ha ha, just posted the same link in the Charlie Huveneers story. I didn't see it here. Interesting stuff.
Don't speak too soon Simba, I was called out of the water yesterday in Ballina.
As reasoned and balanced a description of our relationship with sharks as you’re ever likely to hear
Funnily enough Blowin, I watched that video yesterday and thought the same thing - good advice.
He was pretty right on in nearly everything he said except on bull sharks in clear water...my worst ever encounter was with a big bully in 80-100ft blue water off Ballina,he wanted me not the mackeral that i had just speared...me...cunt of a thing,jaws snapping at my flippers as i tried to fend him off and believe me thats scarey.We were drift diving and the wind had come up so we had to keep swimming to catch up to the boat ,i had just speard a mackeral and un beknown to me on the previous dive old mate bully had been checking me out so my dive partner said back in the boat .We drove back to the mark for another drift which is when i speared the mackeral, hadn't seen ol mate up to then but saw him soon after as he swam straight past my mackeral with the spear still in it and started snapping at me all the while i was swimming backwards keeping an eye on him trying to get to the boat which was travelling pretty fast in the current and east wind...anyway lived to tell the tale but sometimes they just dont like you.
Surfer followed/ stalked by 3 mt GWS at Shelly beach ? Ballina late this arvo..lucky to get to shore / Dorsalwatch facebook.
Shelly was where I was called out of the water on Wednesday - I didn’t see it but they were calling it 2.5 metres, species unknown.
I spoke to the chopper pilot doing the helicopter surveillance in the Ballina region, he said between South Wall Ballina and Evans there have been heaps of whites patrolling in close.
A 10ft white tagged and released at Sharpes on the Wednesday, plus a 10fter sighted at Shelly yesterday.
Plenty doing the paddle across the mouth this summer and also a group of guys regularly paddling to the south wall side on foils and surfing inside the river from the mouth to the bridge.
Tall shark tale that is grows smaller by the minute.
Readers are aware of Cid Bay Shark Attacks.
Yesterday (Thursday) Shark Attacks Gran & Girl on Hamilton Island Catseye beach.
Gran says it was a metre long Shark 'confirmed by Nearby Lifesavers'
[BEACH CLOSED]
Ambulance say Gran's lower right leg shark bite needed stitches on Island.
Girls shark bite was 5-10 cms round & needed VMR to Proserpine,
Meanwhile back at the Resort! The Shark size was shrinking by the minute.
Hamilton Island Staff drummed up nameless local experts
Own medical Staff
Resident Pro Fishermen
Independent Fisheries
Hamilton Island CEO:
Advice from industry experts say these are not shark bites.
Whilst we can't unequivocally rule out shark! We believe it to be a 50cm toadfish.
Strange he said! As they usually only attack when provoked.
Ambo operations supervisor Ross Vickers counterclaims: Says It was a S.H.A.R.K.
QLD Tourism Council CEO:
Unfortunately this kinda thing does massive damage to the tourist region again..
With stories going 'round the world of Shark Attacks when it most likely wasn't!
This AO xxx uncut Hamilton Island Slasher flick is what the Dude is referring to-
Looks like JAWS & sounds scarier than JAWS then you got a S.H.A.R.K problem.
If only Tourists watched Prequel Attack Warning the day before! note: Jan/9/2019
Back to the future 2 / Jaws flick is sheer Movie Magic!
(Spokesperson for Qld Premier):
Independent tests suggest it was a F.I.S.H. in this instance.(That's settled then?)
( Gran & Girl bullied Toadie along with blind Lifesavers + Ambos triggered WWIII )
Lifesavers/Ambo F.I.S.H. response unit rewarded extended summer vacations. Bye!
WTF ?
I hadn’t heard anything about this :
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/fanning-s-emotional-advice-to-urunga-surfer...
First the sharks bit the bodyboarders, and I did not speak out—because I was not a bodyboarder.
Then they ate the stand-up surfers, and I did not speak out— because I was not a stand-up surfer
Then the sharks came for the kneeboarders — and there was no one left to speak for me (except blowin).
Jeez ive looked at this place a few times but way too sharky looking to me,cant believe he surfs it at dawn on his own,but maybe not anymore......buy yourself a lottery ticket mate....so lucky.
In the photo it looks like a beautiful place, magic
surfed it a few times....and got a gobby on the beach there.
Bloke is lucky.
Hard to read those stories, where the shark comes back for another go at it and still think mistaken identity.
Not the first White Pointer sighting then on that beach
water looks clear in that photo too due to lack of recent rain i suspect......
water looks clear in that photo too due to lack of recent rain i suspect......
Far out that’s a freaky story! Just wasn’t his time thank goodness. Imagine the heart rate.
Far out, Matt Gallagher, eh? Crossed paths with him plenty of times. He lived at Cronulla a while, then Thirroul, but looks like he's moved back north to where he was raised. Younger bro Phil worked for Swellnet a short time while running Le Boogie magazine, the mag he started.
Relieved that one ended OK.
Has anyone heard of this incident previously?
No. Why?
I just find it odd that shark attacks have been so normalised that they don’t make the news anymore.
Bit of a turn around from the theory that sharks aren’t more common , they’re just more reported.
Heavy, heavy story.
Yeah, I found it odd too that there was no mention of it.
No mention of it on the SharkSmart twitter feed which usually notes attacks.
I guess if no one reports it, it gets missed. Surely be added now.
No love for the white pointer gag after free freerides gobby comment??
Didn’t think it was too bad meself, oh wells, tough crowd
Haha missed that.
Heavy story all right.
The flash of teeth , the flesh disappearing into the gaping maw , the moaning and cries of mercy. Laying in shock on the sand , gasping for oxygen.
The fluid loss so great it required a tourniquet.
The shark attack would have been hectic too.
Only the biggest Shark Story of them All ... How Big? Come see: {Shark V Shark}
Greatest White Shark ever lived vs Head Hammer Head (No time outs)
[WARNING] Features Actual Great White Shark manhandling WR Hammerhead.
tbb recommends to hold your girlfriend's hand for this epic struggle of survival.
Be afraid to be humbled little guys stand back for a Larger than Life fishing Tale!
https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/sport/cameras-capture-greg-normans-...
i can see it now, Goofy and Blowin comedy act touring the country!
Gary Who & Kevin Bloody Wilson step aside.
Dubbo RSL, here they come.
[NEWS] Politically correct swellnet wowsers got off their arses & blew up the Pokies!
In totally unrelated News...{Goofy & Blowin} "Great White Tour" was forced to cancel.
Drone operator spots a white feeding off Bondi today.
Been a few spotted around here lately and one where a chopper told the guy to go in but nothing posted on Dorsal.....keeping it quiet.
Does the chopper do it’s thing all winter ?
just school holidays i think.
Yeah on the MNC literally right after we came in and were taking our wettys off the chopper came over and put on the siren, one guy was left out there. No sign of it on Dorsal.
Same happened to me , Craig.
Were you around here ?
Nah further south on the southern extent of the MNC.
I've been hearing from other commercial fishos about the increase in bronzey numbers following the travelling mullet/salmon/bream schools further down south and was forwarded a link.
If you scroll down you will see that the old bronzey may be the least of your worries.
https://the-riotact.com/far-south-coast-mullet-run-sends-a-surge-through...
Surfing highly restricted due to shark attacks.
Could it happen here?
Yes.
It’s allegal to go surfing when there’s an impending cyclone in WA. If the shark thing ever got as radical as Reunion then it’s extremely possible that the jackbooted foot of the nanny state will come down .
So just how aggressive can bull sharks be ?
Looks like the term “ slob “ doesn’t have the same meaning in America.
Years ago pro fishing off ballina we had a 12ft tiger do something similar,main difference between that vid is we were off the 48 fathom line and in a 16ft clark...........but back to bull sharks, fukkin unpredictable pricks of things.
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!