UPDATE 2 - Gansbaai, South Africa - surfer attacked

Surfer Christiaan van Zyl tells his story to media from his hospital bed in Cape Town.

"I was looking out to sea, maybe 50 metres from the shore when I felt it on my foot. It took me from behind.

"He brought me up out of the water and was shaking me. It was a Great White, about two to three metres, not so big. I thought I was going to die, but still you fight. I hit it on its head with my elbow, I took everything I had and hit it, and it released me and I pushed it away. It happened so fast.

"In all this my left hand was still holding on to my board so I pulled myself onto it and paddled back to shore on a wave. I checked behind me and saw my foot was open and all bloody.

"When I got to the shore I tried to walk but my foot couldn't carry me. I dragged myself out on my arms and one knee. I waved to some people and they came running to help," Van Zyl said.

They put him on his surfboard and carried him through the lagoon to the beach.

More on Independent Online

UPDATE - Gansbaai, South Africa - Surfer survives shark attack

Cape Town newspaper Die Burger reports that the swimmer who was attacked on Saturday 22 October at Gansabaai, as earlier reported by Independent Online, was actually a surfer, Stiaan van Zyl, 20.

He was surfing at the holiday resort Uilenkraalsmond near Gansbaai which is popular with shark cage divers.

He was attacked in chest deep water about 100 metres from shore. The shark grabbed his right foot and lifted him out the water.

He told the newspaper:

...that a 3m-long shark lifted him into the air and shook him like a rag.

"It felt as though my foot was going to be ripped off.

"I tried to knock it away from me and also attempted to push my finger into its eye.

"It then suddenly let go of me and I could get onto my surfboard, which was fastened to my left leg."

According to Van Zyl he was then able to reach the beach safely with the aid of a big breaker.

"That wave saved my life," he said later.

A man on the beach went to his aid and called his parents. He was taken to a local surgery and then transferred by Red Cross helicopter to Groote Schuur hospital in Cape Town where he had emergency surgery to his Achilles tendon.

His injury was said to be minor.

Source: News24.com

INJURED – 22 October 2005 – Gansbaai, Western Cape, South Africa – swimmer attacked

A man (name and age not released at time of report) was bitten on his lower left leg while swimming off the coast of Uilenkraalsmond, between Gansbaai and Pearly Beach. The injury was reported as "not serious". The area is close to where shark cage diving is carried out.

Cleeve Robertson, of the Emergency Rescue Services, told media the incident occurred close to Dyer Island, which has become extremely popular with shark cage diving operators because of the large population of sharks there. He said the shark must have been small.

No other details were available at the time of this report, although it can be confidently presumed that the shark was a Great White, as these are common in the area.

Source: Independent Online

Shark attack facts

NBC San Diego has published some interesting shark attack facts such as these:

Where Sharks Attack

Most shark attacks take place in areas close to shore where people are most likely to be swimming or surfing. Some likely locations for these attacks are areas between a sandbar and shore, where sharks feed and sometimes become trapped during low tides.

Underwater geography can play a role in shark attacks as well. Areas with steep drop-offs are likely attack spots, since sharks often patrol here waiting for natural prey that congregate nearby.

Types Of Attacks

There are three major types of unprovoked shark attacks.

Hit And Run: This is by far the most common form of attack. A shark will usually attack in an area close to shore where swimmers and surfers are the most likely targets. The victim of the attack usually doesn't even see the shark and the shark usually just inflicts a single bite and leaves. Some believe that these attacks are most likely cases of mistaken identity, where a shark is unable to identify its normal prey either because of water clarity or harsh conditions. It is thought that once the shark takes a bite and realizes that the prey is quite large or unfamiliar, the animal releases its grip and leaves. These types of attacks are rarely life threatening.

Bump And Bite: This type of attack is less common but usually results in the most fatalities. The victims in these cases are usually divers or swimmers in deeper waters. Bump and bite attacks are typified by a circling shark that bumps into a person before it attacks. Repeat attacks are common and injuries are usually very serious.

Sneak Attack: The sneak attack is very similar to the bump and bite, the only difference between the two is that in a sneak attack there is no bump – the shark attacks without warning. Most shark attacks that occur during sea disasters are either a bump and bite or hit and run attack.

Common Culprits

Three species of shark have been repeatedly associated with attacks on people. They are the Great White Shark, Tiger Shark and the Bull Shark. Each animal is capable of consuming large prey and each can reach considerable size.

• More shark attack facts from NBC San Diego....

Salmon Creek Beach surfer describes shark attack

The water was eerily glassy and calm. Then a shark at least 17 feet long attacked from behind.

"It was weird. I was sitting out there thinking, 'Wow, this feels shark-y to me,'" Megan Halavais, 20, said Thursday. "It was straight out of 'Jaws.'"

"It's big. I couldn't fit my arms around its tail. Its fin, its main dorsal fin, was like taller than me," Halavais recounted for reporters at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital as she sat in a wheelchair, her bandaged leg extended in front of her.

(ABCNews report) - More...

INJURED - 17 July 2005 - Shanghai Aquarium - scuba diver attacked - sues aquarium

A scuba diver who was attacked while diving in the Shanghai Aquarium is sueing the aquarium owners, according to a report in the China Daily.

An experienced scuba diver, bitten by a 3-metre shark while swimming in a Shanghai aquarium, was so traumatized by the experience he is afraid of even getting into the bath.

Zhang went diving in the park on July 17, this year. Chen contends that as Zhang swam to the surface, a 3-metre-long shark suddenly attacked him from behind.

"He was bitten by the shark on the top and right side of the head and the right ear," Chen said.

"A fragment of shark's tooth, about three centimetres long, was still embedded in his head when he was rushed to hospital.

More...

INJURED - 19 October 2005 - Salmon Creek Beach, Sonoma County, California, US - surfer attacked

Megan Halavais, 20, was surfing at the Boardwalk surf spot at Salmon Creek Beach, Northern California when she was attacked by a 14-foot Great White shark. She suffered wounds to her right leg after being pulled under the water and fighting off the shark.

Halavais of Santa Rosa was surfing with six or seven other surfers at Salmon Creek Beach just north of Bodega Bay when the attack happened at 10.30am, according to press reports.

Brit Horn, a lifeguard at Sonoma Coast State Beach, witnessed the attack.

"I heard her scream, looked over and saw a very large fin, and saw her go under water," Horn told the media. "Then the fin disappeared and she popped up along with her board.''

According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle Halavais told authorities that she had been lying on her surfboard when what she believed to be a 14-foot-long, great white shark hit her from behind. The shark grabbed her by the right leg, pulled her under water and shook her. She fought back and grabbed the shark by what she believes was its tail, and the shark let go.

She paddled to shore accompanied by the other surfers, one of whom ran 800 metres to the nearest road and drove to a phone to call for help.

She was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with five lacerations to the leg.

A hospital spokeswoman said she was in a stable condition and described the main bite wound as 45cm long running form her thigh to her calf.

Her surfboard also had bite marks according to park rangers who recovered her board.

Sources:

San Francisco Chronicle

Washington Post

FRIGHTENED - 13 October 2005 - Honokowai, Maui, Hawaii - surfer attacked

Clayton Sado, 22, had been surfing for about three hours on Thursday afternoon 13 October off Honokowai, Maui when an eight foot Tiger shark attacked and sunk its teeth into his board. He was about 100 metres offshore when the attack took place. He was uninjured, although his board showed the familiar semi-circular shark-bite mark.

Sado said he fought to stay on the board as the shark thrashed from side to side. He hit the shark’s nose and tried to push it away. He yelled to a surfer friend and two boys surfing nearby to get out of the water.

"I was just thinking, 'Don't tip me over. Don't tip me over,'" Sado told Honolulu’s Star Bulletin. "It was fighting very much."

Then the shark let go and dived underwater.

He said he waited motionless for a long 15 seconds before sticking his hands in the water to paddle.

"I waited for the courage to stick one hand in and paddle," he told the newspaper.

“When I got to shore, immediately I was just jumping around. I was jumping for joy just to be alive."

John Naughton, a US National Marine Fisheries Service biologist, said the animal was likely a tiger shark searching for turtles.

The Star Bulletin first reported the incident on Sunday 16 October.

• Sources: Honolulu Star Bulletin

INJURED - 15 October 2005 - Ponce Inlet, Volusia County, Florida, US - surfer attacked

A 15-year-old boy surfer (name withheld by media) was attacked by a small shark when he apparently stood on it while wading out to the surf at Ponce Inlet jetty, Volusia County, Florida, US.

The attack took place in the afternoon of Saturday 15 October 2005. They species of shark, thought to be about 2-3 feet, was not named.

The boy suffered minor cuts to the top and bottom of his left foot, Scott Petersohn, spokesman for the Volusia County Beach Patrol, told media.

The boy was taken to Halifax Medical Center where he was reportedly in a stable condition.

Sources: Daytona Beach News Journal

Great White's marathon sea trek

Finally, some hard evidence that these great sharks travel super long distances. Satellite tracking great whites off California last year showed that they swam to Hawaii and back, and dived toi great depths during the journey. Now they've been shown to swim from South Africa to Australia and back - a record distance.

A Great White shark crossed the Indian Ocean from South Africa to Australia and back again within just nine months.

It was one of several great whites tagged by researchers in an attempt to improve conservation strategies.

Writing in the journal Science, they say the journey is unparalleled among fish - only tuna come close.

More...

The shark at one point dived to 1,000 metres, but for more than 60% of the journey swam within five metres of the surface. Scientists think this may have been for navigation purposes.

See the story on South Africa's Independent Online.
Nicole the shark makes a record ocean journey

INJURED - 2 October 2005 - Grand Cay, Bahamas - diver attacked

Nixon Pierre, 35, was diving for conch with companion Oliver Russell about one mile north of Grand Cay in the Bahamas when he was attacked by a large shark which bit him on the right side of his face.

The report was published on Monday 3 October and only refers to the incident as having taken place at the "weekend" - either 1 or 2 October.

The two men had been fishing and diving from their 17-foot Freeport Skiff.

Russell helped his injured friend back into the boat and rushed him back to Grand Cay where he received emergency medical treatment at the Government Clinic before being flown to Freeport’s Rand Hospital where a doctor described his condition as serious but not life threatening.

The species of shark was not reported.

• Sources:
  The Freeport News

HERE’S TROUBLE - 1 OCTOBER 2005 - SUNNY COVE, FALSE BAY, SOUTH AFRICA - SURFSKIER ATTACKED

Trevor Wright, 55, was paddling his surfski about 80 metres from Sunny Cove in False Bay, South Africa just after 3pm on Saturday 1 October when a four-metre Great White attacked the front of the surfski, puncturing the fiberglass with four tooth marks.

Wright was unharmed.

He told the media: my first thought was “here’s trouble” when he felt a “hell of a knock” on the back of his surfski and realized it was too deep for him to have hit rocks.

The shark then appeared at the front of his surfski and came out of the water to bite the front of Wright’s surfski, according to his friend Alan Weston who witnessed the attack from his surfski nearby.

“I still have this vision of the shark’s open jaw and eye,” Wright said.

He was too far from the shark to hit it with his paddle.

The shark released the surfski and dived. Wright and Weston then paddled to the shore and alerted the authorities.

“If I’d fallen in the water, it could have been far worse,” a clearly relieved Wright told media.

Sources:
IOL

INJURED – 25 SEPTEMBER 2005 – KANGAROO ISLAND, SOUTH AUSTRALIA – SURFER ATTACKED

Surfer, Josh Berris, 26 suffered lacerations to both legs after being attacked by a four-metre shark (some reports say the shark was “more than two metres”) at Cape du Couedic, a renowned seal breeding area off Kangaroo Island, South Australia, about midday Sunday 25 September.

Berris was celebrating his 26th birthday.

Locals call the surf spot “Spooks” because of regular shark sightings during the seal breeding season.

Paramedic Dean George told media Berris felt the shark underneath him and thought it was a seal before it bit his leg.

“He put his hand in the shark's mouth to push it away," George said. "When he hit it, it got the board and it starting towing him away. He just yanked his leg rope off.”

Witness Dave Dowie said the shark circled around its victim after the initial attack.

“The shark appeared to come around onto his left hand side and was right up close to his board,” Dowie said.

“It stuck its head out of the water and Josh was able to push it away.

“But then it appeared to just go for his surfboard, which was probably very fortunate."
Dowie said the attack happened quickly.

“Josh sort of called out when it first hit him, because obviously it took him by surprise,” he said.

Two of his friends dragged an injured Berris from the water and pulled him onto rocks at the base of a cliff, before climbing up steep cliffs to make an emergency call from a nearby ranger station.

An Adelaide Bank Rescue helicopter airlifted Berris to Flinders Medical Centre, where he spent the night. His injuries were not life-threatening.

Sources:
The Australian

News.com.au

FRIGHTENED – SCARBOROUGH BEACH, PERTH, AUSTRALIA – 24 SEPTEMBER 2005 – SURFER ATTACKED

Surfer, Brad Satchell, 44, survived a shark attack by punching the shark repeatedly on the head when it tried to attack him at Scarborough beach, Perth, Western Australia.

Satchell said he thought the shark was a bronze whaler more than one metre in length.

When the shark swam straight at him he climbed off his board and used it as a shield.
He was quoted by media as saying: “I actually had a smile on my face when I first saw the thing because I thought it was a seal.

"I can remember I was actually smiling, but then it just changed and I thought 'wow this thing is going to have a go at me'.

"Probably two or three foot before it tried to attack me, I turned my board on the side to use it as a shield.

"I lifted my body out of the water and I just got my fists and I remember what I'd read in the paper - I just started punching and I connected with its head."
Satchell said it was a frightening experience.

He was unhurt and paddled to safety.

Sources:
ABC News Online

Herald Sun