The Shark Attack Monitor logs news of shark attacks around the world. All attacks that are reported since June 2005 - whether minor brushes or fatal - will be logged on this blog.
In a brief report The Australian says man was bitten while fishing at Batt Reef about 10.15am on 22 February 2009. Batt Reef is off the Queensland coast near Cairns, Australia.
The report says paramedics met his boat at Yorkeys Knob Marina, north of Cairns, about an hour after the attack and took him to Cairns Base Hospital in a stable condition.
It said it was not clear if he lost his finger in the attack.
No other details were reported.
Sources
Glen Lockery (no age but has been surfing for 24 years) was bumped hard by shark while sitting on his board about 10 metres from shore waiting for waves in murky water at Shelly Beach near Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia. The incident happened around 5pm on Wednesday 18 February 2009.
"I was sitting out the back on my own and just got hit from below,'' he told media. The shark hit his board so hard it flipped up and hit him in the face.
Lockery said he saw the shark, which was about twice as wide as his surfboard.
"People have told me that when it comes from the deep it is either a great white or a tiger. It lifted the board and broke the nose,'' he said.
He screamed and paddled for the rocks. He was uninjured, although the nose of his board was broken.
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A 10-year-old Boogie boarder Bayden Schumann had a close brush with a shark which bit off the top end of one of his swim fins, missing his toes by millimetres. He was completely unaware of the attack and only noticed a large piece of the swim fin missing when he got back on his board.
The incident was reported in the Great Lakes Advocate on 31 December 2008. It happened while he was surfing at Seal Rocks, North Coast New South Wales, Australia.
“I was just catching one of my last waves. I didn’t feel anything; I went through the wave and half my flipper was gone,” he said.
His father who was on the beach said: “He gave me his flipper, and went straight back out. I noticed two teeth marks on the top, then turned it and saw two more with scratches leading to them,” he said.
“I’ve tried to tear the material, but you can’t. It’s too strong.”
No-one thought much of it, until two hours later.
“We went to the next beach along. I looked down – I was pretty high up – and saw a seven-foot bronzey (bronze whaler shark) chasing whiting,” he said.
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A 23-year-old surfer was attacked by shark while surfing at the southern end of Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. The surfer (name not immediately released) was bitten on the left hand and arm, according to media reports.
The incident occurred around 7.30pm on Thursday, 12 February 2009.
“He said he felt a tug on his arm. When he looked down he saw a bad bite on his left hand and arm,” a police spokesman was quoted as saying.
He yelled for help and nearby surfers assisted him to shore. Some off-duty doctors on the beach helped stem the bleeding.
A witness on the beach told ABC news: “He was conscious, his eyes were open, he was very pale and looked quite distressed.”
He was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital for surgery.
It is the second shark attack in Sydney’s waters in two days.
A navy diver lost his right hand after being bitten by a shark the previous day during a training exercise in Sydney Harbour.
Sources
Navy diver Paul Degelder, 31, was attacked by what is thought to be a bull shark, while on a navy diver training exercise at Woolloomooloo Bay in Sydney Harbour, Australia. He tried to fight off the shark, but suffered severe injuries to his right hand and leg, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The attack occurred just before 7am on Wednesday, 11 February 2009.
He was taken to St Vincents Hospital where he was reported in a stable, but serious condition.
The Australian Navy considers the harbour to be low risk regarding sharks and frequently conducts training exercises in the harbour.
However, fishing tour operators told the newspaper they had seen many sharks – bull sharks, tigers, hammerheads - on a daily basis in the harbour over the past couple of months – many more than they had seen at this time of year in previous years.
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A brief report in the New Zealand Herald and other media say a 47-year-old man was attacked by a shark while swimming of Kina Beach about 70km from the city Nelson on the South Island of New Zealand. He suffered deep wounds to his torso, with possible internal injuries.
The incident occurred at about 3.30pm on Saturday, 9 February 2009.
He was flown to Nelson hospital by helicopter where he was reported in a stable condition.
No other details were reported.
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Durwin Keg, 41, was surfing at Cellito beach on Australia’s New South Wales mid-north coast when his board was bumped by a great white shark.
The incident occurred on Saturday, 7 February 2009.
He told media: “I just looked around and saw this huge shadow, probably about four metres away from me.
“Straight away I knew it was a shark. He was just sitting under there watching me.”
He began to make his way back to shore – calmly and quickly, but within a few strokes, he turned and saw the shark following him.
“I knew it was after me,” he said. “I started moving and I could see him going behind me.”
Keg paddled as hard as he could as the shark began closing in.
Moments later it struck with all its force into Keg’s board.
“He just came up and lifted me to try throw me off my board,” he said.
Keg said he clung to his board, trying to stay above water. The shark then tried to attack a second time.
“This time he came right up out of the water to flick me off,” he said.
As he came within centimetres of the shark, which had torpedoed most of its body out of the water, Keg was certain he was going to die.
“I was on my own, I was too far out,” he said.
Screaming to his mates to get out of the surf, he began wildly throwing punches at the shark which eventually moved off.
He made it back to the beach unharmed.
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Photo source:
Melbourne Herald Sun
Keg describes his ordeal - "I was sure i was going to die..."
Lifeguard, Sikhanyiso Bangilizwe, 26 was killed by a shark while swimming off Second Beach at Port St Johns on the Wild Coast, South Africa.
He suffered three bites from what is believed to be a 2.5 metre Zambezi (Bull) shark.
The incident occurred on Saturday 24 January 2009. Bangilizwe was off duty when the attack occurred.
Tshintshekile Nduve, a fellow lifeguard, had been swimming with Bangilizwe at 1.30pm was quoted as saying he heard the cries of his friend and saw that he was in trouble with the shark on him. “ I saw blood and I went out of the water to get help,” he said.
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