Ballina shark attack: Teenage surfer bitten at Lighthouse Beach
A 17-year-old surfer has been bitten on the upper-thigh by a shark at Lighthouse Beach at Ballina, on the New South Wales far north coast.
Lighthouse Beach is closed after a shark attack on a surfer. (ABC/Bruce Mackenzie)
Richmond Police Inspector Nicole Bruce said the victim, named as Cooper Allen, was attacked about 9:00am.
He was treated at the scene for his injuries before being taken to Lismore Base Hospital.
A shark barrier trial at Lighthouse Beach was scrapped in August due to ongoing rough conditions.
Surf Life Saving NSW lifeguards on jet skis chased the shark away from the shore after the attack, the ABC understands.
"[The victim] received lacerations and bite marks to his upper-thigh area, he was assisted into the shore and off-duty nurses treated him," Inspector Bruce said.
"We've got the surfboard and the bite marks will be analysed by the DPI [the Department of Primary Industries].
"The beaches in all of the Ballina Shire have been shut for 24 hours and there's currently a helicopter on the way to do aerial surveillance."
Inspector Bruce said it was not known if a great white was responsible because no-one saw the shark during the attack.
The victim was a member of the local surf club. (ABC/Justine Frazier)
"There has been [a] sighting of a great white, a four-metre shark, further off the shore but no-one actually saw which shark it was that's bitten him," she said.
Inspector Bruce said Cooper was helped back to shore by his friend who he was surfing with and his injuries were not life-threatening.
"But obviously, with a shark wound, they're always quite severe," she said.
The boys were surfing just past the break at the beach.
"You can never be in the clear, I suppose, it's just one of those things, you share the water with them, it could happen any day, anywhere," Inspector Bruce said.
'Prime attack was on the board'
President of the Ballina Lighthouse and Lismore Surf Lifesaving club Craig Nolan said the incident was close to the North Wall.
"Apparently the prime attack was on the board, so it took the brunt," he said.
"The reports we have are that it was a great white, around the three-metre mark.
"It's unfortunate timing, we were trying to get our members back into the water.
"We've had a lot of association with the DPI and Surf Lifesaving throughout the off-season trying to get measures in place, so it's an untimely event for us.
He said the club had two jet skis in the water undertaking a patrol to identify the shark that attacked the teen, who was a member of the surf club.
"The beaches are now closed ... we're patrolling between South Ballina and Sharps Beach advising everyone to get out of the water," he said.
'I'm still sick to the stomach'
Ballina Mayor David Wright said there were three or four surfers in the water alongside Cooper.
"A great white came up behind one of the surfers, bit into the back of his board across the fins and the top jaw came across the surfer's leg and [he] has left three or four lacerations across the leg," he said.
"I'm still sick in the stomach, I was going to do an interview at 10:00am about sharks with someone doing a study on them but I didn't think there'd be an attack taking place.
"I'm not sure if that shark was tagged, even though there's been a lot of tags in the area over the weekend.
"Hopefully the young surfer will be OK but his mates will need someone to talk to.
"It's not an experience people would like to go through, I also feel for the surf lifesavers, they only raised the flags on Saturday.
"Most accommodation is filled to the brim, people are here, the main thing now is to make sure they come back."
Life savers on Lighthouse Beach, Ballina. (ABC/Justine Frazier)
© Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.
Comments
All the best for your recovery Cooper
At the last community meeting on the shark problem here the DPI said it had the capacity, the legal clearance and the willingness to put in a kill order if a shark was a threat, or there had been an attack.
You'd have to say on the balance of probabilities there is an extremely high likelihood the GWS spotted at N. Wall just after the attack is the one responsible.
Wonder why they didn't act?
All Ballina beaches closed for 24 hours, I work as an emergency services worker never has a pub or street been closed after some fool harms or kills themselves or innocent by standers, I choose to surf with ocean creatures. Speedy recovery mate hope your well again soon
Ill equipped perhaps I don't whether the shark would have been just swimming peacefully on the surface waiting to be euthanised FR.
As linez said all the best Cooper hopefully you can make a quick buck off the impending media attention.
Sounds like the surfer is okay. What does it take before the State Gov gets serious and stops using Byron/Ballina as an experiment. And get rid of the attitude that if you surf in the ocean you deserve to die because you chose to go in the ocean. It seems protecting human life has become a political football with the Greens/Sea Shepard calling the shots.
When did a human life become expendable for the sake of a shark ? Protect human life people.
I agree this should be a hub for testing and research as there seems to be something going down.
But again we know the risk and take that onboard everytime we enter the water.
The amount of people surfing North Wall every day though with shark detections daily very close by still shows for the most part they aren't interested in us, even to investigate.
the risk profile here for being attacked or having a shark encounter has been altered dramatically here in the last couple of years.
So to say we know the risk is a meaningless statement. We know the risk has increased is of much greater meaning.
Question is: is the risk increase sufficient to take action to reduce the risk of encounter/attack. Many in the community here would say yes.
Especially when other surfing communities, eg QLD and Sydney have already proven shark mitigation strategies in place.
Nets or baited drums Freeride?
What's your preference?
smart drum lines have almost zero bycatch issues.....so they'd be by far the most ecologically sensible mitigation.
my preference would be for the sharks to be relocated, and hope the experience of being caught, tagged and relocated is enough to deter them from cruising so close in.
I don't see how the by-catch from smart drum lines would be much different from traditional baited hooks.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-23/shark-attacks-smart-drum-lines-fac...
Was talking to a guy this morning and he reckons in South Africa they've tried another tack - they take one GW shark, the biggest they can get, and kill it and let it bleed out. He reckons all other sharks disappear for months. Sounds logical (you don't get to hang around for millions of years without a healthy sense of self-preservation) but I'll be looking for hard evidence.
As you say, tagging of all sharks is a no-brainer.
The community needs something to take to the table reasonably quick as DPI, David Wright etc will be wanting to move.
Not sure why you posted that article Andy M because it backs up exactly what I am saying.
Drum lines have way less bycatch than nets and for smart drum lines the survival rate for species hooked and released in Reunion Island is 90%.
Drum lines are effective and I'm not against them but obviously the proviso for smart drum lines is 24 hour access through the bar etc.
I remember seeing stats for drumline by-catch years ago and it's not pretty.
Assuming access is ok, you can't argue with 90% survival of caught animals.
And yes, that article backed you up.
All's revealed few months back grom protests sharknets. Just a few weeks back installation/testing of shark nets proved a failure. Come first day of holidays,even first surf the very first lifeguard patrol of 2016/17.Hollywood scripts the same towns ground hog day plot. Picture perfect postcard and of all the people.. the net-free Grom is gobbled up by Maneater,luckily survives. Again the Mayor is having kittens...No! Not the sign! Please!..nnnot That sign!....Balina's world heritage listed [BEACH CLOSED] sign again bosses the ghost town. Taggerz drool in awe bin spray cans and shadow into next shire. Me and I'm guessing the whole world is sending lots of luck upon love to Balina, the grom and yes even Mr Mayor. So nothing's going your way and answers are a long way off! Here's what we scared as all hell visitors have come up with in short term!(a)Bad-ass style postcards photographed next to Worlds most Notorious [BEACH CLOSED] sign... raising money for Bite club. or (b) World Sign Auction- scary sign would top a $million for Bite Club and shine a caring light upon Balina.(c)(Is actually based upon our Beautiful one day perfect the next scam) Trap new happy campers with freshly painted(hardly used) BEACH CLOSED signs and simply deny the fact that worn out sign ever existed.(d) Is that Big Prawn acting as Big Shark bait? No' had to ask!(e)On same basis... Would iconic Big Balina Shark scare that even bigger shark over there! Here on Gold Coast [Beach Closed] is trending as the Sign of the times.Tweed having drownings on same tourist beaches,needing more patrols. All neighbouring councils in same boat,perhaps learn from each other on similar crisis management.Share local council forums about-[BEACH CLOSED] ... Sharks/Whales/dolphins pods/drownings/Hi- surf/rips/lightning storms/erosion/Blue bottles/bait fish/Jelly fish/Seaweed/algal blooms/...etc..work on things we all share,being easiest options,don't give up Balina...we're all here to help.
To mine this guy has got as much chance as anyone at the moment in shark prevention......hes going to crowd fund his trip to the neptune islands and test his wax out so i hear and i wish him the best cause if it works its such a simple solution.
https://www.facebook.com/commonsensesurf/about/?entry_point=page_nav_abo...
You can either keep painting smiley faces and rainbows on your boards or you can once again become the apex predator and knock off a growing population of locally lurking sharks. You have to show them who is boss or you are done for. I'm over you guys, you don't give a shit about your kids until one is eaten. Then you cry what do we do. Do you honestly think that killing a few lurking sharks is going to wipe out the great white species ....Ballina /Byron village...A lovely village with way too many village idiots.
I'm with you BobC. I read all this bleeding heart stuff for a shark of all things while there is plenty of moaning about the situation with no end game in sight. Kill them. Lets talk about how good the waves are.
Just saw the chopper hovering over Lennox Point.
NSWDPI Aerial Team report a 3m White Shark @ Lennox Head point - no surfers.
There's a photo, looks very similar to the shark yesterday. Chunky shape.
It's getting harder and harder by the day to accept that the white shark is an endangered species.
There was a handful out at the point this morning.
Plenty at the pub. Didn't see anyone between sharpes and the river.
David Wright referred to Cooper as Connor about 10 times on the radio this morning. Then the DJ started calling him Connor too, haha.
7news have a good pic of the bite, teeth puncture wounds on his leg ...
See here:
https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/32736343/teen-surfer-left-with-bloodied-leg-...
Also, just watching the news report video on that page, Mayor says smart drum lines are being deployed, plus the drone, chopper, etc. Seems reactionary. Why the fuck did the people in charge wait for an incident before taking more action?
"Ballina Shire Beaches Reopened
Ballina Shire Council wishes to advise that all beaches extending from Seven Mile Beach, Lennox Head to South Ballina Beach, South Ballina have been reopened following a 24 hour closure due to a shark incident at Lighthouse Beach yesterday.
Additional resources have been provided by the Department of Primary Industries to assist patrolling lifeguards, including a twofold increase of aerial patrols and the deployment of smart drumlines.
The “Little Ripper” drone will also be undertaking trials at Lighthouse Beach. This drone is fitted with a video camera, loudspeaker and an emergency pod containing lifesaving equipment capable of being dropped into the ocean remotely."
For fucks sake what harm is done knocking of the potential killer shark after an attack
I have been an ocean user for most of my years and had the opportunity to meet
Old fisherman boat builders in Vic.Quote some sharks are like dogs theres mad ones that attack the boats craypots etc.
They now realise humans pose no harm.Government just dont want to deal with the fallout of dramatised dead shark pictures and the myth thst GWS are endangered.
The only solution
https://www.rpela.com
Are ALL beaches open? Or, is Lennox still closed?
http://www.surflifesaving.com.au/news/ballina-beaches-reopen-following-s...
Looks like from the size of the teeth marks that kid is very, very lucky.
Bloody hell...he is a VERY lucky boy alright
Any pics of his board been released yet?
Freeride said: "There's a photo, looks very similar to the shark yesterday. Chunky shape."
Its the dental profile that is important mate. Same smile?
hard to say, he had a bad overbite.
ABC 0nline- cost breakdown of undelivered shark barriers
Qld premier has offered to extend Qld shark nets into Nth NSW.
Surfing down the coast used to be so simple...
Slip on some board shorts, pack some sunscreen and you favorite board, jump in the car and go! Done, Simple.
My preparation has changed a bit when surfing northern NSW.
I adhere to the following routine....
-Check surf report and cams.
-Check shark report.
-Check Facebook/Twitter.
-Check cycle of moon.
-Check tidal movements.
-Check battery of shark repellent device.
-check shark repellent wax and leg rope.
-Check first aid kit.
-Check accident insurance.
-Check availability of surfing buddy i.e.Preferably someone with Irish background .
-Advise friends and family of your whereabouts.Express your love for them.
-Pack day bag for potential hospital visit.
-Check will is in order.
Jump in the car , and go!
This takes about four hours if carried out properly.
Still... its worth it aye!
Only a surfer knows the feeling!
Great Whites are coming in close to feed either side of Smokotime. Many North coast surfers spotting them...mid morning and attack times between 8-10am. Yes I know that's busiest time for surfers/tourists and we're bound for more encounters/sightings at this time. No I'm not trying to clear the morning rush hour lineup or even north wall.Speaking of which(FACTCHECK) I recall surfing Ballina at end of 70's. Locals even back then were shark savvy,ever joking whilst rest of us had legs up 'n'sharks cruising beneath our boards. I'm not surprised that rugged line-up breeds tough groms! I reckon the local groms eat Great Whites for Breakfast. Call that a .... This is a [BEACH CLOSED] sign! Hooroo!
2.9 m GW tagged this arvo at Angels Beach.
funny how many of us said "again?" when lighthouse beach came up. the warnings have been in place for a long time about these lurking great whites. they are camped there and it's a problem no matter what way you look at it.
I was watching 7 News about thirty minutes ago, one of their female journos was talking about the attack to a camera on the grassy knoll across from the new surf club - some kids over there by the path leading down to the beach , knowing the camera would catch them. They jump about and wave.
Then one of them turns around, rips down his shorts and throws a brown eye. His mate turns around, sees what's going on and kicks him fair in the arse.
You couldn't make it up.
somethings never change eh peterb.......the joy of throwing a good brown eye.....
Thats a fine in Vic
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/09/25/mooning-streaking-specifical...
I don't care what you're into down there WJ, that's not a-fine up here!
Boom boom.
FUCK, kids these days... 'only' a good 'ole brown-eye? Need more commitment to the rebellion cause - a good 'spit the winkle' should do it ... If it was a dusk or night news report cross, then a 'dance of the flaming assholes' would be spectacular in the background.
But, in other news, just as I was typing this Alan Jones is spruiking on Channel 7 "sunrise" morning show - says Mike Baird has said he will go up an talk to the community and ask what they want, need, etc ... Jones spins it around saying he didn't do that for the Greyhound industry.
Fuck. Freeride and co down there, you've got a mission if 'mainstream' media are running the issue like that ... fuck me, greyhound industry vs shark management? And, where's the fucking research sunrise and Jones - there HAS been community meetings and the community has been asked what they want!
So, what was the outcome of those meetings? Was there a consensus as to the action needed previously?
Mike Baird should have been talking to the community a year ago and by community i mean the people who live ,surf and work in that area not listen to others outside of it who are not affected by the aftermath of an attack.
I warned you'll about leggy tugg'n groms here. Spoonin' down bowl after bowl of sharkflakes cereal sends them round the twist. Listen up groms! Grovelling to Huey for a brand new world championship stick negates Hueys free wave of day voucher that Cooper earned from his pet shark . We '70's groms first had to grovel to Huey then be made to walk over burning coals and hot ashes,did I mention the searing hot melting wax.Then rescue shark chomped,dented crappy piece of a stick from the flames of hell.No I'm not ....in' joking.( re; Huey's flamin' surfboard sacrifice Chateau Boys 1975)....or my first surfboard ! Hueys sacrificial terms and conditions allows groms to salvage and resurrect ocean wrecks.Month of Sundays clause states this does not negate firebrand ritual of sending sacrificial epic swell. In addition bestows wave of the day voucher upon green grom. (Coopers mashed board is in forensic lab is it not ?) Huey will take that into account. No don't bother tuggin' on Hueys heartstrings for state of art 3d pro-steamer.Huey can sea clear thru any groms scam... the water temp was 20+... not in his vested interest. However grom's rebellious brown-eye appeal reopened Hueys 3rd eye. It's a sign that Huey's willing to evoke ancient shorebound clause for Cooper. Seems you vile groms were sick enough to have done your mate proud,he may just get that sick stick he needs after all.(Huey was chalmed by burly bodybash'n bunyip) ps: Attention following is a Huey greenroom alert- Groms need to bucket salt water up to their seacreature buddy,as he's only part human. Free Cooper!
another one at suffolk this morning?
I'm with you BobC and urchy - time to restore the odds in favour of we humans at shark hotspots like Ballina. Sharkhuggers can bleat all they like but the majority of them don't put themselves in GWS-saturated line-ups so their arguments are irrelevant. BTW, trueblue, you make sheepbanger and his mates on the politico thread seem almost coherent by comparison.
49 tagged so far
And if their website is correct it seem only 15 or 16 of the tags still active
Up here it's ok to kill wild dogs because they kill cattle, sharks kill people and it's not ok to kill them.
Can anybody help me here?
Vigilante cull