Shark Stories

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yorkessurfer started the topic in Monday, 29 Oct 2012 at 12:11am

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!

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groundswell Friday, 8 Apr 2022 at 2:46pm

My next door neighbor two days ago went spear fishing between jakes and blueholes and caught three fish then laid on the reef to look for mackerel. he saw one and speared it and in the corner of his eye saw a massive shape it came straight at him with its jaws wide open. He says it was about 18 feet long and a metre high from the ground with another metre of dorsal fin. It was a tiger shark. Biggest hes ever seen and he is a cray decky. he put the mackerel in its mouth and the shark kept coming at him to get the other fish hanging of his belt.

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bluediamond Friday, 8 Apr 2022 at 3:22pm

Bloody hell @groundswell. Case in point....plus some. Glad he got out unscathed.

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velocityjohnno Friday, 8 Apr 2022 at 4:04pm

Tiger shark be like 'yoink!'

Have had a 14ft one on the end of the fishing line, it came up to have a look and was so damn wide, that was enough for me. 18ft, yikes

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velocityjohnno Friday, 8 Apr 2022 at 4:04pm

Blue diamond, are you seeing anything like all the pointers headed in a direction, like the time before?

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bluediamond Friday, 8 Apr 2022 at 5:01pm
velocityjohnno wrote:

Blue diamond, are you seeing anything like all the pointers headed in a direction, like the time before?

No discernible pattern at the moment VJ. Just wherever there's salmon there's life at the moment. Was checking the surf the other day and thinking, i don't remember that reef being there....then realised it was a massive school of salmon. ha.
Almost feels like you have to surf around the sharks at the moment. Been doing lots of going ins after sightings, waiting, heading back out and shitting. Hard to relax when there's this many around.

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Distracted Friday, 8 Apr 2022 at 9:41pm

Might need to be a bit more proactive BD, dive down and chase the buggers off :-0
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/travel/2022/04/07/teen-diver-touch-great-...

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bluediamond Saturday, 9 Apr 2022 at 12:25pm

haha classic @distracted. I guess that's the thing with sharks. They're perfectly safe, so long as you stay away from their mouths!!
And yep, as long as a shark is smaller than me, it's probably not too much of a threat. Sometimes i'll ride a longer board at super sketchy spots or sharky days just to cast a larger silhouette to deter the ones that are slightly larger than me. I think it works! haha

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velocityjohnno Saturday, 9 Apr 2022 at 2:22pm

Cheers BD you are doing the right thing. If the feeling changes, be proactive. Yes I've had the school of salmon do the drive by of self down on S coast, a mate out Bremer way would limit sessions to 30-45mins at some times of year. And yes I'll do the bigger board thing as well. Vid was cool, always good when you get away so you can say "Dude," another day.

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bluediamond Saturday, 9 Apr 2022 at 4:30pm

There were literally hundreds of Salmon, the size of my arm swimming around me the other day VJ. Did have a drive by, caught it on camera too which was nice! Me on the first wave, and Brucey the shark on the next one. Came in for a bit and then went to the next bank over but i couldn't really relax after that. And yep, agreed on the 35-40minute thing. That's about the cycle of a drive by at this time of year! haha. Glad you can relate to what it's like down here. At least it's a good healthy ocean. Lots of abundance!!!

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velocityjohnno Saturday, 9 Apr 2022 at 5:18pm

Wow, yep that's the view I'm talking about. They float past with their mouths open and look like they are strained or something. That ocean, it's hardcore, it really does feel alive like it has its own consciousness it feels so raw. And the water is just so turquoise blue and the sand so beautifully white and clear. Probably won't ever become crowded.

I'm trying to think of where else felt like that and only bits of Tassie, alone and cold in very clear water...

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bluediamond Saturday, 9 Apr 2022 at 5:25pm

Ahh yeah good call VJ. Does feel like that. Definitely edge of the earth stuff. Reminds me alot of Vicco too, the coast West of Otway..especially the open beaches. And Tassie for sure.
ha i swear the pricks were trying to hide under me. It would have been pretty easy fishing but felt like it would be cheating when they're that thick!
Anyway, as i'm sure you know, the old theory is i'm sure the sharkies are well fed and pretty focused on the fish...still....don't wanna get caught in the cross fire.
Best time of year down here for sure VJ. Hope Autumn starts to arrive for you guys over there soon!!

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Supafreak Saturday, 9 Apr 2022 at 5:47pm

@BD , do you have shark eyes on your boards ? First time I paddled out to an empty beachie at cudgen with new shark eyes sticker a dolphin popped up next to me just as I sat up on my board, the old heart skipped a beat and I’m not sure if he noticed the eyes and came to check out what I was .

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bluediamond Saturday, 9 Apr 2022 at 6:22pm

Nah I don't Supafreak...i've got 10 or so boards but i probably should!! I take the old wing and a prayer approach and hope that if i'm nice to nature, nature will be nice to me. Not delusional though. Part of the foodchain once you head out here. Cudgen also a bit of a super highway! haha. Those dolphinsi swear they do that on purpose sometimes. Actually one of the scariest moments i've had in the water was 2 days ago with a friend who mistook dolphins for sharks and i thought an attack was going down. We're all a little edgy down here. Just for a second i thought it was all on. Worst feeling ever. Way worse than seeing them coming at me! Stay safe with all that dirty water up there mate.

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velocityjohnno Saturday, 9 Apr 2022 at 8:16pm

Re: the coming past and under, maybe they are 'kiting' - it's a term from gaming where players draw the big nasty Boss to softer, juicier targets and so escape (and there is much mirth).

Here's a famous example, a handful of trolls patiently took the invincible Boss to a major population centre - result was 3 days of mass slaughter:

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wax24 Saturday, 9 Apr 2022 at 10:19pm

That is what worries me from time to time, Supafreak. I have SharkEyes on my board, but was hesitant at first cuz i wondered if maybe that makes em curious and wanna circle back. I eventually figured the risk of that doesn't offset the gain. But who knows.

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seeds Tuesday, 12 Apr 2022 at 7:39am

Gets out of the surf after a shark sighting and?
https://apple.news/AsBZvpP-4RWurv64O9000sA

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Craig Tuesday, 12 Apr 2022 at 7:49am

Wow some crazy reads in here, and BD, I need to visit that stretch, sounds incredibly beautiful and pure, but also alive!

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bluediamond Tuesday, 19 Apr 2022 at 2:07pm

Yeah it's beautiful Craig. Hit us up for a wave if you're ever down this way. Lessens the odds!! haha.

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simba Wednesday, 20 Apr 2022 at 4:15pm

coming on that time of year again soon so hopefully no one will have an interaction like this guy

https://www.reddit.com/r/SweatyPalms/comments/u7dhds/brave_diver_fends_o...

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bluediamond Wednesday, 20 Apr 2022 at 8:09pm
udo wrote:

https://www.9news.com.au/videos/national/wa-familys-close-encounter-with...

Hehe. Was just about to post this one Udo. Hows the scream!! Bruce just popped up to say helo!!

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bluediamond Wednesday, 20 Apr 2022 at 8:12pm

You couldn't pick a sharkier time of year in the SW than thus 3 or 4 weeks. Im actually a little concerned for the WSL. I guess theyve got all their drones and what not.

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Rabbits68 Wednesday, 20 Apr 2022 at 10:47pm
bluediamond wrote:

You couldn't pick a sharkier time of year in the SW than thus 3 or 4 weeks. Im actually a little concerned for the WSL. I guess theyve got all their drones and what not.

That's definitely the current vibe, particularly coinciding with the salmon run, but the statistics suggest that later in the year is more sinister, fatality wise.

Like you say, they WSL will have all the precautions in place then they will just have to roll the dice...

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bluediamond Wednesday, 20 Apr 2022 at 11:06pm
Rabbits68 wrote:
bluediamond wrote:

You couldn't pick a sharkier time of year in the SW than thus 3 or 4 weeks. Im actually a little concerned for the WSL. I guess theyve got all their drones and what not.

That's definitely the current vibe, particularly coinciding with the salmon run, but the statistics suggest that later in the year is more sinister, fatality wise.

Like you say, they WSL will have all the precautions in place then they will just have to roll the dice...

Yeah Oct/Nov is a terrible time too Rabs.
Just a bit jumpy at the moment. Shouldn't project my own fears onto the poor woz. Pretty sure they had a shark incident or 3 last year but did all the stuff to keep everyone safe. Just feels sharkier this year than the last couple for some reason. Ocean seems a little super charged with life.

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Rabbits68 Wednesday, 20 Apr 2022 at 11:14pm
bluediamond wrote:
Rabbits68 wrote:
bluediamond wrote:

You couldn't pick a sharkier time of year in the SW than thus 3 or 4 weeks. Im actually a little concerned for the WSL. I guess theyve got all their drones and what not.

That's definitely the current vibe, particularly coinciding with the salmon run, but the statistics suggest that later in the year is more sinister, fatality wise.

Like you say, they WSL will have all the precautions in place then they will just have to roll the dice...

Yeah Oct/Nov is a terrible time too Rabs.
Just a bit jumpy at the moment. Shouldn't project my own fears onto the poor woz. Pretty sure they had a shark incident or 3 last year but did all the stuff to keep everyone safe. Just feels sharkier this year than the last couple for some reason. Ocean seems a little super charged with life.

100% BD.

It’s currently very alive alright :-)

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bluediamond Thursday, 21 Apr 2022 at 5:12pm

Alive and thriving. How's these mad dogs. 200 of the cheeky buggers currently off the Bremer Canyon. Will be keeping an extra eye out for a chance sighting over the coming weeks. Wonder if it's all tied in with the water temps being quite high at the moment.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-21/subspecies-killer-whales-spotted-...

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Distracted Thursday, 21 Apr 2022 at 6:16pm

That Bremer Canyon is nuts for sea life. Would love to check it out. Link below shows a Blue Whale hunt by Orca’s out there.
https://m.

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bluediamond Thursday, 21 Apr 2022 at 6:33pm

Insane footage Distracted. Thanks for sharing.
Would be incredible to see that all happening up close. Even just to see one lob itself into the air. They're big animals!

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wax24 Thursday, 21 Apr 2022 at 7:50pm

Was lookin at that clip with the diver and the pointer, and was thinking how nice it'd be to have a pole/rod/something to fend them off when they have a good looksee like that situation. I know it'd prob effect performance, but how about a rod (maybe even a bangstick) clipped onto the deck? Close to rails, one on each side to balance weight? I dunno, i'm just spitballing.

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wax24 Thursday, 21 Apr 2022 at 9:40pm

Thanx Udo

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velocityjohnno Tuesday, 17 May 2022 at 8:02pm

water colour is just epic on this coast, but, er, yeah

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-16/shark-feeding-frenzy-drone-footag...

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frog Wednesday, 18 May 2022 at 9:25am

One thing I have wondered about is why sharks don't just swim in and grab a big bite from live whales as they swim along. I know the cookie cutter shark does this. And sharks attack baby whales. But a GW could cruise in say at the midline away from the tail of a huge adult and just grab a bite with limited consequence from a big whale you would think.

Somehow whales must be able to do something to deter them. Or perhaps it just the deep instinct and learned behaviour not to attack large prey common in most predators? Or maybe adult whale skin is tough so that a quick bite attempt does not work well?

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mitchvg Wednesday, 18 May 2022 at 7:53pm

Got a bite on the hand in foamy water at Moreton Island. Cut a tendon but it was fixed. The pommie tourists thought I was croc Dundee coming out of the water with a shark bite, climbing up the headland, bush bashing through the scrub barefoot. That's as gnarly as it gets.

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udo Monday, 23 May 2022 at 4:29pm
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Robwilliams Monday, 23 May 2022 at 5:46pm
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groundswell Monday, 23 May 2022 at 8:04pm

Hundreds of sharks surrounding whale in Kalbarri....should be good for business.

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simba Wednesday, 25 May 2022 at 7:32pm

whites interacting with dolphins

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Supafreak Wednesday, 25 May 2022 at 7:56pm
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udo Tuesday, 21 Jun 2022 at 6:45pm

Lets still be very Vigilant Gents the East coast is Alive - Some Big Fuckers in the Mix..
https://www.dorsalwatch.com/report/index.html?country=1

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Distracted Wednesday, 22 Jun 2022 at 6:52am

Three Whites and a Bull Shark caught off Port Macquarie yesterday plus another White detected by the buoy.
Great to see the whales back, pity about their support crew.

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simba Wednesday, 22 Jun 2022 at 7:15am

yes been a lot tagged so far and its early days .......even tagging them on the south coast which is new....

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simba Wednesday, 22 Jun 2022 at 5:44pm

12 whites tagged today between yamba and sydney....add the few tigers and bullsharks tagged as well and its a sharknado ...dead whale washed up near sw rocks

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DudeSweetDudeSweet Monday, 4 Jul 2022 at 8:21am
udo wrote:

https://www.dailysabah.com/world/africa/1-austrian-1-romanian-tourist-ki...

They are actually classified as covid deaths because they found a couple of snot filled tissues in a victim’s purse. Medical officials are sounding the alarm because they’re amongst the first covid deaths occurring in people under 90 years old and without dementia. They think it likely a dangerous new variant they’re calling Omicronshark responsible for the attacks. Pfizer already has a vaccine ready for production to be added to the town water supplies across the entire planet at the low, low price of $975358963257975346889976555677.00 to be paid by the UN ( after they’ve extracted the money from individual nations).

It’s a bit worrying that this has occurred just after the Australian government has decided to let unvaccinated people into our country. Particularly as the technology for a full body Omicronshark scanner is not yet developed for our airports.

Lock. Us. Down…..Now!

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wallpaper Monday, 4 Jul 2022 at 8:32am

hilarious. 10,000 people dead from covid in Australia to date and this is what you come up with. Let me guess: you know more than the all world's best brains in medical science combined and have worked out it's all some sort of conspiracy. Fucking shit for brains moron.

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DudeSweetDudeSweet Monday, 4 Jul 2022 at 8:47am

Could you please not respond to my posts so quickly? I’m trying to social distance.

Whilst it may be true that over three quarters of Australian covid deaths have occurred amongst those older than the average life expectancy (84yrs) and forty percent have occurred in those over 90 years old - with average of three comorbidities, primarily dementia - I think it’s a bit rash to be communicating so freely over cyberspace whilst the still undefined threat of Omicronshark hangs over our heads pushing the threat of world wide extinction within two minutes to midnight.

We really don’t yet know how transmissible Omicronshark is and we shouldn’t be taking such reckless chances with our health.

I do hope you’re wearing a mask and gloves whilst you type? Come on mate…show a bit of responsibility towards fellow users of the internet.

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Snuffy Smith Monday, 4 Jul 2022 at 9:40am
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DudeSweetDudeSweet Monday, 4 Jul 2022 at 9:55am

The local shark tag receiver has detected a ping from a tagged Omicronshark within a mere 10,000 km radius of our formerly-safe Aussie coastline.

Getting a petition together to close the beaches to protect everyone. I assume everyone wants to sign? You’d have to be a granny killing sociopath to not care enough about our community to resist giving up access to our oceans in the name of “freedumb”.

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burleigh Monday, 4 Jul 2022 at 10:42am

World breaking research has now got a vaccine for shark attacks.
Do NOT, i repeat DO NOT enter the water without it, the sharks will hunt you down.

Bondi lifeguards will be mandated to have this and you wont be able to fly Qantas.

Don't be selfish, protect your community.

Once vaccinated you can still get attacked, but you'll die slower. This means it's working.