A Western Australian beach remains closed on Sunday morning after a Perth man was attacked by a shark while swimming there.

Jason Cull, 37, was about 80 metres off Middleton Beach on the state’s south coast on Saturday morning when a four metre white pointer shark, one of three circling the area, attacked him.

He underwent emergency surgery for lacerations to his left leg and was in a stable condition, an Albany Hospital spokesperson said.

Joanne Lucas, a volunteer at the local surf club heard Mr Cull’s cries for help and dashed into the sea, pulling him to safety.

Albany Surf Club spokesman Tom Marron told AAP that sea rescue volunteers and a Fisheries and Marine officer spent most of Saturday trying to move the three white pointer sharks away from the beach, but they wouldn’t go.

„So we’ve closed the beach. We’ll go back (today), put some crafts in the water and have a plane up again and just check out what’s around, what we can see, and we’ll make a decision about opening the beach then.“

Mr Marron said the entire beach, between Middleton Beach and Emu Point in Albany, will remain closed until further notice.

Albany is around 450km south-east of Perth.

© 2008 AAP
Source: SMH

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An American surfer has been killed in a shark attack off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, officials say. The San Francisco man bled to death on Monday after a shark bit his right thigh, leaving a 38-centimetre wound, the Guerrero state Public Safety Department said in a statement on Tuesday. The US embassy in Mexico could not confirm the man’s name, but local authorities identified him as a 24-year-old who was surfing with a fellow American. The other man was not injured.

The attack occurred at the Troncones beach, about 45 minutes west by car from the beach resort of Ixtapa. The statement said the victim suffered wounds „that reached from the hip to the knee, exposing the femur“. The victim was still alive when he was brought back to the beach. It took so long for the ambulance to reach the relatively isolated and undeveloped beach that a bystander took the victim to a local hospital in his car.

The man died from loss of blood a few minutes after reaching the hospital, the statement said.

Shark attacks are relatively rare in Mexico.

In 2006, the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History reported only one attack in Mexico, which was not fatal. Meanwhile, a shark expert says an autopsy has confirmed a great white killed a 66-year-old swimmer in the waters off San Diego last week. An investigator from the Medical Examiner’s Office said two shark’s tooth fragments were recovered from David Martin’s body.

Los Angeles-area shark expert Ralph Collier, who assisted with the autopsy, said the fragments indicated the shark was a great white up to to five metres long.

Martin was bitten while training for a triathlon on Friday morning. He quickly died from blood loss.

About 30 kilometres of coastline were closed after the attack, but authorities reopened the beaches on Monday without incident.

AP

Source: smh.com.au

Source: www.coastalwatch.com
Text and photos: Brad Malyon

As surfers most of us embrace that sense of adventure that is part of a well-deserved surf trip. Whether it’s half an hour up or down the coast or boarding a dodgy chicken boat in Padang Harbour, it doesn’t matter, its all about leaving the hustle and bustle of everyday life. We all love it and in most cases it’s all about that “search” for perfection that drives our wandering souls. So when I received a phone call from Coastalwatch editor Horvath to document a surf trip with three amazingly talented pro surfers to some out of the way destination I jumped at the chance, saying yes before I even knew where in the world I was going.

All I comprehended after my first briefing was that we were off to the Solomon Islands, somewhere out in the Pacific.

Fast forward to when I was gazing through the window of our trusty twin otter plane overlooking a series of perfect reef passes with Californian Benji Weatherly, and coolie rippers Shaun Harrington and Brent Dorrington alongside me, and I knew we were in for something special.

>> Read the whole story on Coastalwatch.com

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A 16-year-old surfer has died after being attacked by a shark off the NSW north coast.

The boy died at North Wall Beach at Ballina after suffering large bites to the leg and body, a Surf Life Saving NSW spokesman says. The attack took place around 8.30am (AEST) while the boy was bodyboarding with a friend.

„Basically we know that shortly after eight o’clock this morning, two boys were surfing, or bodysurfing on bodyboards, adjacent to the North Wall at Ballina,“ Surf Life Saving spokesman Stephen Leahy told AAP. „Shortly after eight o’clock one of the boys indicated that he was in trouble to his mate, his mate went over to help and found that he had been attacked. „He brought him up on to the shore, but unfortunately the boy died due to his injuries.“ Mr Leahy said all beaches in Ballina had been closed as a precaution. Another Surf Life Saving NSW spokesman, Craig Roberts, said the boy suffered two large bites, one to the leg and one to the body.

The shark had not been spotted since, and crews were out looking for it.

„The patient came in with another gentleman and lifeguards attended the scene,“ Mr Roberts told ABC radio. „As you can imagine it was quite a distressful situation. „He was unconscious and the lifeguards and ambulance officers had some severe haemorrhage to deal with.“ Mr Roberts said lifeguards performed well in the traumatic situation. „Certainly it’s one of those things that you’re trained for but hopefully it never happens as well,“ he said.“ The lifeguards did an excellent job and worked with the ambulance and the police service, but obviously it is a traumatic experience.“ The boy was surfing 50 metres out from shore at the time of the attack, he said. Reports that a second man was attacked but survived have not been confirmed. Mr Roberts said the beach was normally patrolled, but crews had not started patrolling for the day.

Surfers’ websites say North Wall beach, just north of the Richmond River estuary, is popular, but they warn of the danger from sharks. However Mr Roberts said it was not common for sharks to be present off North Wall beach at this time of year. „Earlier on in the year there was a very heightened risk in the Byron (Bay) area in which we put some additional measures with jet skis and helicopters in the area,“ he said. „But at this time of year it’s generally not a high prone (high prone) season for the sharks.“

Lifesavers will get a full report on the incident at 9.30am (AEST).

The manager of the Ballina Beach Resort, close to the site of the attack, said bull sharks had been seen recently in North Creek, near the Richmond River estuary. „A local fisherman saw four of five of them,“ the manager, Sharon, told AAP. „They are hunters,“ she said of the bull sharks.

The website marinebio.org says the bull shark is a massive and fearsome shark with saw-edged upper teeth, up to 3.5 metres long. The National Geographic website says attacks attributed to great white sharks may often in fact have been attacks by bull sharks. A spokesman for the Australian Volunteer Coastguard said it was the organisation’s policy to make no comment on any incidents in which it was involved.

Police said the boy who died was from Wollongbar, between Ballina and Lismore.

His mate had raised the alarm after finding him floating unconscious in the water, they said in a statement. He was pulled from the surf suffering heavy blood loss from severe lacerations to his upper and lower leg. Police and NSW Ambulance personnel attended the scene, but attempts to revive the boy were unsuccessful. His body was taken by ambulance to Ballina Hospital. Police said they would be preparing a report for the state coroner.

This was the second shark attack on a surfer in the Ballina area in the past 15 months.

A 26-year-old man was attacked in February last year. Matthew McIntosh, 26, underwent surgery after a shark bit his lower left leg and foot while he was paddling his boogie board off Shelly Beach. „He was catching a wave when the shark bit him … he didn’t see the shark at all,“ Westpac Rescue Helicopter pilot David Milnes said at the time.

Source: SMH

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Source: www.coastalwatch.com
Text: Tim Fisher
Photos: Oakley

They’re big blokes, all four of them, standing around the barbie, beers in hand. Listening.The fifth bloke, the biggest of the lot, like Willy Mason big, a comp-surfer turned deep-sea fisherman named Robert Pollock, is getting to the end of his shark story. It’s the one where a White Pointer gets between him and the beach in chest-deep water, and charges. The big blokes sip their beers. No-one tries to crack a joke, no-one even swears. And no-one doubts the story for a second. There are some stereotypes you can take to the bank. That a surfer wearing a scarf will be from Bondi, that deep-sea fishermen are among the hardest bastards you’ll ever meet, and that South Africa is chock full of big sharks.

Outside around the fire, Tom Whitaker, Adam Melling, Brent Dorrington, Greg Emslie, Davey Weare and Royden Bryson do their best to ignore big Rob and his spellbound audience. It’s the last night of the trip, and they’ve had a gutful of shark stories.

>> Read the whole story on Coastalwatch.com

For this story and more checkout issue 235 of Australia’s Surfing Life

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