Surfer attacked by shark at Bulls Paddock
A surfer has been attacked by a shark at Bulls Paddock, south of Forster on the Mid North Coast. Col Rowlands, a Forster local, was attacked at approximately 9am and rescued by other surfers in the water.
The rescuers got Rowlands to shore where they called emergency services who airlifted him to Newcastle.
Eyewitnesses report most of Rowland's injuries are on his feet. His condition isn't considered life threatening.
Forster and Pacific Palms has seen a spate of shark sightings in recent weeks though this is the first reported attack.
We'll have more news as it arrives.
Comments
Fuck, this is not surprising for anyone who has been following the tagged sharks via sharksmart.
Tons and tons of hits on the listening stations at Forster through to Hawks nest.
Looks like a chunky white from the mess he made of that board.
Hope the bloke is OK.
Yeah that is a very solid bite!
Too right. Lotta sightings on Dorsal in the last few weeks.
Another photo:
Aggressive too by the looks of that!!!
Looks like he had a couple of good cracks at that JS.
Perfect timing from local expert Danny Bucher who was on the news last night saying the risk of shark attack on surfers was "virtually zero".
It's not hard to see how ordinary people have lost faith in experts/elites when you have dingbats like him out in the public sphere.
Talk about slow learners fr76 , some of us surfers are way ahead of these fools at understanding how risky it is
The circular crater on the top half looks like the shark hit him from underneath with its nose, and then came around from the side to have a bite. Fuck!
By the looks of that bite circle that is one solid shark.
On Monday I surfed solo one of the spots where we lost a surfer two years ago almost to the day. Fuck the radar was on overdrive.
Fuck me that boards a mess
Lucky guy
Just out of sheer curiosity, has anyone considered the nuclear fall out/waste that is apparently being pumped into the pacific ocean by Fukushima, affecting marine life?
The risk is higher than anyone thinks. More chance of dying on the roads and other shit you hear all the time! This is the facts in my life so far.
I have 3 friends that have been bitten and injured bad by sharks and another one that had his board bit but it missed him. That's 4 friends attacked out of my small amount of friends that surf.
reckon your spot on Ash, will be interested to hear what the bloke has to say but my money sys it hit him with speed and force from bellow which busted the board in half and then came in for the chomp on the board.
this fits with some previous attacks and may explain why this bloke has feet wounds.
like I said in a previous post there has to be a full question sheet for each encounter with first hand accounts so we can stop guessing and try to put some pattern or indicators in place.
If Shark Shield could have prevented this I would eat my dogs breakfast. But wait...it is endorsed by TC...must be good?
Well according Benny Godwin who's friends of Col's family and has spoken to his son today that looks like it was the case - he was launched into the air first then carnage followed. One thing that I've read above in a few comments though is of the whites now moving south after spending much of the cooler months off Ballina and surrounds....and while this maybe the case I don't think its entirely the pattern. We now have a listening station here in Forster and have for probably 10 months (besides for 3 months after that June swell destroyed it). It was deployed pretty soon after old mate on the surf ski was bitten by a white at Blackhead (15mins north). Back in easter holidays we had the DPI start spotting and every single day of the holidays they reported and often evacuated Tuncurry Beach, with 2 or 3 days in a row having up to 3 white sharks within a few hundred metres of one another. So without being naive, you go back before the holidays as I'm sure these sharks just didn't coincidently decide to turn up first day of school holidays, so how long have they been there? A couple weeks after the holidays, without DPI aerial surveillance and they tag and release 4 individual sharks up Tuncurry Beach. Sure they probably started moving south from the north coast, but geez, I honestly think we have the same issue as Ballina but we just got extremely lucky without any real incidents to record.
Putting the whole "the risk of being attacked...." aside for a minute, what about when you look at it from a coastal community viewpoint. There's now been an attack at Port Macquarie, Crowdy Head (the bite club guy), Blackhead, Forster, Smiths Lake (if you want to include Dave Sparkes a few years back by a white at the river mouth). That's 5 coastal towns directly after one another moving along the coastline. The risk of attack doesn't look so unlikely then. My bets are on Seals or Port Stephens incident next. Hope Im wrong.
Every time I've surfed at BP it's been a peaky shorey.. i.e very shallow. There's not a lot of surf around today so I'd be surprised if he was sitting out on an offshore bar (i.e. in deeper water).
Maybe he saw it approaching, and rolled over to put the board between him and old mate in the grey suit?
Bloody lucky fella either way.
Fark me.
Nothing more to add. Glad the blokes ok.
Maybe make surfers/swimmers protected species and ban sharks from eating them! Or we could just go on a Cull!!!
Was up there on the weekend with the missus.
Due to it being an anniversary weekend I confined my surfing to Friday morning on Central Coast then a few short morning body surfs up at Diamond Beach. Was wondering how the shark situation was there.
If I hear another effing expert say that there has been no spike in shark attacks on the east coast in the last 18 months I'm going to throw up all over them.
We surfed 7-mile on Sunday. Had a horrible feel to it. There have been so many local encounters lately. And the tag receiver in town is constantly going off. I've known Colin for about 35 years, seems from the news footage he'll be OK
NSW DPI #shark specialists have confirmed the shark involved in an incident off Booti Booti National Park this morning was a white shark.
No surprises there. This looks like it is becoming a new normal for NSW. Clusters of attacks in NENSW around winter/spring and then attacks in mid-north coast and southwards as the whites head south during late spring/early summer.
@FR, I honestly have no agenda with this question other than having two groms in the water. What do you think should be done that is not already being done?
Also, does anyone have a mate at JS? I reckon ol mate deserves a new stick for Christmas.
Ol fellas in good spirits...smiling and thumbs up to the cameras......and reckons he needs a new surfboard. ABC online.
Needs a new board - ya reckon!?
Hope he's back in the water soon.
Wonder how busy it will be over xmas holiday along that stretch of ocean?
Might be a feeding frenzy the way its going on in that part of Australia.
Same shark doing all attacks I reckon. Got a taste for humans he has.
I read Danny Buchers interview. With expert beside his name ! What crap ! I am sure you are a nice guymate but seriously, stop quoting garbage.
Our club in Byron has just had to order special tourniques and Israelie bandages that are used in War Zones, so that we have them at every comp and then carry them in our cars because our Council and State Govt wont give us tried and proven protection ! What ever happened to looking after humans ? Sick of these idiots.
At some point, a choice has to be made. Sharks or people. I think it might come down to that.
It seems the government, greenies and 'experts' like Dr Bucher are saying its the surfers that need to buy shark repellent devices. Cost is from $300 to around $800. 'Experts' do say these devices may not be effective in all cases.
Note Greenpeace is also trying to stop the government putting in nets.
Good to hear that Rowlands will be ok.
i don't know if its true but the news said it was the first time 'old mate' had seen a shark whoop whoop whoop and hello!
i honestly think i would just freeze in that situation shitting my pants….
The men in grey suits are heading the way of where I'm planning to spend my summer. I don't like this one little bit.
Our Local Officials are weak! They want to tax back packers? Who's gonna come? Shark attacks a Frenchy got stabbed to death! Time for a Crack Down! Get Real Australia! Kick a Greeny in tha Sphincter! Hard!
id love to meet you chicken, you are one crazy dawwwwg
Woof but I am Serious about the Whole "debacle"
That's a 4 m white and old mate is a very lucky man. We did a surf trip around those parts in winter and some of the local boys said it’s only a matter of time. How is the 2 young blocks on the news commenting about it really doesn't scare us, they obviously haven’t seen an 800kilo fish with teeth.
When is the DPI going to understand that White sharks are back with a depleted middle section in the Marine ecology from commercial pressure? The next 10 years will be interesting when the 80 2-3 m whites tagged out the front where I live last month move into the 4-5 m range. I hate to be a dolphin, whale or anything else that moves in the water, the goal post have been officially shifted.
For some time the hooked and tagged norm around Ballina Evans waters was 1.8 -2.7 .....last few weeks they have been 3m or more and a few caught have been already tagged.
Agree that fucker today was 4m plus and before long when they all reach 4-5m it wont be attacked and survived its going to be full consumption.
I can't get over how lucky that guy was he could have ended up like Tadashi. I personally feel the DPI will be pressured to do more in the future, like take a few out. Its interesting how the tags have been going off around that area and have slowed here in Ballina. Thats been the pattern in the last 3 years for the 2-3 m ones and they do school, the term used is (loosely associate) and the 4-5m tend to move solo but they struggle to tag these ones as they are 1200- 1500 kilos.
I would really like to view the numbers of all stocks for the last 20 years to understand or give me a better insight to why this is happening. I do believe thou its clear that the protection program has worked for Whites....
Dave same issue you highlighted above is playing out on East coast South Africa. Talking to the local fisherman when I was at jbay the juvenile population of whites is out of control. Give it another 3-5 years and there will be a lot of big hungry fish.
The marine life in that part of Australia is unbelievable,few years back did a solo mission from goldie to gosford and back.Didn't see any sharks but whales breaching about 50 meters away,dolphins .Not to keen to do it now.
Gday,
Been a long time follower of the discussions on the forums but today is my maiden post.
Good to see the old fella in good spirits!
I can attest that Daniel Bucher is a good bloke. He has been studying marine fisheries with a focus on the Northern Rivers for decades and decades. If he isn't considered an expert, I'm not sure who should be.
If I get attacked by a shark surfing, its my own fault.... it's not the governments or greenies etc fault.
Bit off topic but it amazes me how the Australian government can try and wipe out a race but they cant step up and control sharks..
Im not trying to offend...
Jedi I don't think people will blame the government or greens etc if they get attacked. They and others will be asking the question of why the government continues to fail to adequately protect ocean users from sharks. A massive increase in shark attacks, encounters and numbers surley warrents further action. Peoples lives and livleyhoods are on the line yet people are more concerned about the Sharks?
Which race Penmister ?
Large parts of the Human
The best people to make Australia what is today udo.
You think this place would be alive if it wasnt for korri
penmister i didnt ask.
And whats Korri a village in Pakistan ?
I've noticed a trend of whites hitting the northern central coast around december/january the last 3 years or so.. Sightings almost daily around pelican beach for that period.. Just lucky no-one has been hit.
Damn, and double damn. That's where I'll be, and will surf Pelos and another area not far away that has much fewer surfers and is a bit of a hike if you find yourself in trouble. Damn, damn. damn.
but pelo's is netted, right? i know the nets are not 100% etc etc but they go from newie to the gong thru summer is my understanding
Another attack thats not dawn or dusk, and in clear water far away from a rivermouth. Some of the TV experts have no idea with their "advice". He was riding a shortboard though, which goes with my theory that you're way safer on a longer board. I surfed there a few weeks ago on a shortboard and felt spooked.
Yeah Troz same, I've never been attacked on my SUP.
Jedi, no question Bucher is a nice person, but surfers who have surfed for 40 -50 years also know a thing or two, and really some of his quotes are off the mark ! We have had 3 deaths from shark attacks in Byron, one was one of our club members, all these people had horrific deaths. What does it take for Niall Blair to act ? And Col you are an extremely lucky old bugger ! Good onya mate, keep surfing dude.
Another good reason to have a strong board because it is essentially a shield against shark attack & if it snaps easily then you are in more trouble
Incredible survival story. Full credit to the young bloke that immediately helped out. Courageous stuff.
Interesting to hear that about 10 dolphins were right there just before the attack.
Hopefully a speedy recovery to all.
Another mid morning attack
Penmister, what's your comment got to do with this thread? You surf, have a job and live in a nice house because of European settlement , fella, no other reason.
Rather than fail to protect us, governments have withdrawn our right to protect ourselves. Sensible people would be reducing the numbers of dangerous sharks, not tagging and releasing them so they can attack some poor bastard on a different stretch of coastline.
BTW Hako, you've just clarified why you are such a knob - SUP rider!
Good point ween.Who knows were i was going.
Does anyone have contact details or an address for this fella? If they do can they send it through to [email protected]
We'd be happy to send him our Christmas box of surf essentials to help get the stoke back. And surely JS can come to the party with a new stick?!
No direct contact but he works as a real estate agent at First National in Forster.
Nice work BTW.
Great thanks Stu!
Cheers
You can easily find out if you're on Facebook, go to Forster Tuncurry Surfing Life page as lots of his old mates are members and could send you an inbox as I thought Col exited Real Estate a while back but I could be wrong.
Awesome thanks Dan will get onto that.
Cheers,
Hate greenies
Hate semi greenies
Hate spineless politicians
Blood on their hands and more
will be shed.
Sharpes receiver consistently pinged since 5 am this morning.
Probably good reason to avoid sideshore 2footers.
SharkSmart @NSWSharkSmart 40m40 minutes ago
DPI Fisheries advise: tagged white shark detected by Sharpes Beach, Ballina receiver at 06:46:00 AM (AEDT) on 3-Dec-2016
0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
Dorsalwatch -that vid ....fark
Yeah its not what you want to see looking down thats for sure..
https://www.facebook.com/liveinaustralianow/videos/1831925197092769/?hc_...
I wonder why Dorsal dont say which shark no. has pinged the receivers,is it the same shark over and over or multiple sharks ?.....be interesting to know.Cant understand why the state /federal gov dont invest heavily into shark prevention,i mean they threw 500k at a plastic net that was never going to work so why not back the small guys who might have a few ideas.
I think that question has been asked and Dorsal said they do not receive that info.
IIRC someone suggested the recievers do not identify individual sharks, just the satellite tags do.
Pretty sure Kent Stannard said they can identify the shark from the acoustic listening stations but that DPI isn't publishing that information.
Again my theory that these juvenile/sub-adult white sharks are inshore preying on Dolphins is corroborated by latest attack and Ballina obs.
damn will have to sell my dolphin suit!
It is becoming fairly obvious that this pattern will not go away. Surfers, tourism business and the government can hope all they want for some smart tag , web app type solution. But it will not change what the sharks do in the water and the trend.
They should base their decisions on the assumption that lots of attacks will continue to occur changing the face of tourism and recreation in Australia not hope that the cluster will disappear.. North coast NSW was a dream location to live and visit. Not any more.
As surfers we take risk and accept it. But I feel for the Dads and Mums who have encouraged their kids to take up surfing and live with the fear that their kids are out there dangling legs into the water for hours and hours every week.
I feel the pessimists will be proven right here - how long this takes and the damage to lives and livelihoods in the meantime is an open question.
How stupid are humans?.think we know everything..try shark shield, try different colours, try nets..spend millions of dollars on scientific bullshit that doesn't fucking work when we all know what really needs to be done..cull the fuckers..simple..when are the dimwits gunna wake up?culling is easy, cheap and it'll work.. Don't be scared of the greenie wankers.
I feel sorry for all these towns and communities who are gunna suffer from this..
Its a very big ocean out there - plenty of space for GW to thrive even with some netting and culling of rogue whites hanging around close to certain shore locations.
Agreed.
Not if you get enough of them
Well said barley
Wonder what Vic Hislop is up to now days?
Probably sitting there itching for the protection to be lifted so he can get it on
Other than culling a few...i wonder what other advice Vic would give to NSW gov ?
And his thoughts on electrical detterants
And wasnt the guy with Chillax wax supposed to be doing a demo at Neptune Islands.
It's funny how the attitude has changed. When this sort of shit was going down over here in the West a few years back, anyone who mentioned harming a GWS was generally shot down in these forums but now the shoe is on the other foot and your backyard is no longer fun, I find this shift interesting and slightly hypocritical. I also don't see so many tough guys out there now openly taking the "fuck it" attitude I'm not worried by a fish. I challenge most sane people to not shit themselves when faced with that.
Classic isn't it Quokka.
Then multiply this syndrome of removal from natural reality to the power of ten and you're somewhere in the vicinity of your average inner city green voter , or your Northen Beaches Sydney Eco warrior......meow !!!
Surfersvillage : Col Rowland supposedly said his Vegan diet puts off sharks.
Yep that Vegan diet thingo works a treat. You might lose a leg first but I'll eat a vege burger before my next surf and feel much safer.
If Rowland was on a vegan diet then his attack is a good anti ad for vegan. Looking at his board that shark came back for more .... time for a T Bone.
Had a friend whose dad went missing on a surf kayak at boomers in the mid nineties.
completely flat day , overcast, never seen again ..........Heavy.
Jeez the last few days on Dorsal makes for sobering reading, especially for anyone considering a holiday on the north coast.
A part of me is always cynical about these user generated applications yet many of the sightings are by aerial surveillance or pings from tagged sharks.
Only 44 reports for NSW in last 7 days, nothing going on there really.
The graphic of dorsal fins on the Dorsal map will be a blur of black covering the entire coast soon. That will reassure all the tourists (potential who may not translate into actual!) that they are safer now with all the excellent monitoring going on.
The shark population must be getting paranoid and are sure to avoid us now they know we are on to them with our maps, graphs and apps.
3.8 metre seen at Fingal Head - spot I've surfed quite a bit- is sobering.
Quite the sliding scale watching it go from 'just needing to be studied' to smart drum lines and nets being installed. Another few bad ones and watch the cull commence.
Anyone know how Col is doing ?
Evans Head 35mins ago catch and release 4.5mtr GWS. !
An article in SMH today reports a significant increase in the marine life caught in nets this past year. The increase was in both target and non-target marine life, including 133 target sharks (44 last year), 145 non-target sharks (50 last year) and 425 stingrays (84 last year). The article also provides figures on the new nets at Ballina.
Seems like the marine life is flourishing. Any comments from the fishermen here?
Here is a link to the article: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/surge-in-marine-life-caught-in-nsw-shark-nets-...
60 mins last night - Glenn Dickson...how fucking lucky was this bloke !
As for Centrelink refusing him Disabilty payment WTF ? Anyway i think by today he will have it.