Despite getting severely bit on the leg, a surfer who was attacked by a shark at a beach was able to save his own life and swim 600 metres back to shore.
At 8.45am on Monday at Gnarabup Beach in the Margaret River region of Western Australia, a great white shark attacked a guy in his twenties.
The victim lost ‘a lot of blood’ but was able to escape the shark’s hold and swim back to shore before the shark bit him on the leg.
The man was given first aid by an off-duty nurse after suffering a deep gash to his left leg.
He is currently in a stable condition after he was taken to Margaret River Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The attack happened at Gnarabup Beach in the Margaret River region, Western Australia, at 8.45am on Monday (Picture: Getty Images)
Footage that was captured from the shore showed dramatic scenes as the shark splashed towards the victim while a surfboard was flung into the air.
Beachgoers told 9News the man was incredibly brave and said he ‘saved his own life’.
They said he ‘lost a lot of blood,’ as he fought to escape from the animal before paddling back to the beach.
Western Australia’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is investigating the attack.
Authorities have urged beachgoers to take extra care around the Gnarabup and Prevelly area.
It is seventh shark attack on beaches across Western Australia this year.
Huge shark seen circling menacingly in shallow seas off Florida coast drove terrified beachgoers swimming for their lives.
Beachgoers enjoying a day on the sand were forced to leave after a massive shark fin was observed flapping and thrashing in the open waters, evoking scenes from the movie Jaws.
Dramatic video of the incident shows a swimmer relaxing in the water on an inflatable when two individuals nearby escape in horror, with frantic cries of “shark!” being yelled out to warn anyone who might not have seen the impending danger.
But unlike in the film where the predatory Great White sneaks up on swimmers without any warning, the shark appeared to be extremely active and agitated, thrashing around and creating quite a splash.
The shark was spotted at 2.15pm on Sunday afternoon in Perdido Key, and was moving at such speeds that it appeared to be creating waves all on its own.
Experts believe the creature to be a Hammerhead or Thresher shark, which are often spotted in the area, and that it was likely foraging for food due to the large amount of bait fish which were previously sighted in the waters.
Kennady Brinley, a marine biologist with Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge, said shark sightings are much higher in June than any month out of the year.
She said it’s no surprise the animals are still being spotted near shore at the start of July.
Earlier in the week, a school of Hammerhead sharks were spotted circling in a nearby dock, much to the surprise of some local boaters.
Marine biologists suggest avoiding swimming in the ocean before dawn and after dusk when sharks are often looking to feed.
‘This is the time when sharks become more active. They actually feed more commonly, generally, during these twilight hours of both dawn and dusk. And why is that? Because they have sort of the advantage on their prey’, explained ocean biologist Bob Hueter to WINK.
Before being devoured by a shark in Egypt, a man screamed “Papa, save me” in front of his grieving father and startled spectators.
The tiger shark killed 23-year-old Russian citizen Vladimir Popov by mauling him to death off the coast of the Hurghada vacation town in the Red Sea.
Online videos of the attack show Mr. Popov writhing around in the water while being repeatedly mauled by a shark. Then he is pulled under.
Then, according to a witness, the animal played with Mr. Popov’s body for two hours.
The shark was eventually caught, and footage shows it being brought into shore on a boat, before being beaten to death.
Mr Popov’s devastated dad Yury, who saw the attack, told local media his son yelled ‘papa, save me’ as he was attacked.
Yury added: ‘We went to the beach to relax. My son was attacked by a shark. It all happened in seconds.
‘What kind of help can you give? This meat grinder happened in 20 seconds, he was just dragged under the water…’
He said the beach was safe and described the killing as an ‘absolutely ridiculous coincidence’.
Yury added: ‘There are ships and yachts around. It’s never happened there. They usually attack on wild beaches. It is just some kind of evil fate.’
The Russian Consulate in Hurghada confirmed Popov was Russian but said he was a permanent resident of Egypt. It’s believed he’s been living in Egypt for a number of months.
Other beachgoers were seen frantically running out of the water when the attack happened.
An eyewitness said: ‘Children swim [in the area where theshark attacked] very often – there were children’s slides.
‘All this happened not far from a descent into the sea, next to the ladder, used by everyone who went into the water. At one point, the shark appeared, and immediately bit this man.
‘Rescuers saw this and began to start the boat. He tried to swim away from the shark, but he couldn’t.
‘It immediately saw through him, his legs surfaced quickly. And it dragged the body for two hours. It constantly dragged him under the water.’
Another source said there was a woman in the water not far from the man who was screaming.
They said: ‘The rescuers dragged her onto the boat, after which they rescued two more girls.
‘They were all taken away by doctors or the police, because they were in [a state of] shock, hysterical.’
The 46 mile (74km) stretch of coastline was closed off and is not expected to reopen until Sunday.
The ministry said the shark is being looked at in a laboratory to try and establish why it attacked, and if it was responsible for other maulings.
Although it’s not common for sharks to attack in the coastal regions of the Red Sea, an Austrian and a Romanian tourist were killed within days of each other last year.
Tourists, including many from Europe, flock to Egypt’s Red Sea resorts each year, with divers being drawn to the coral reefs and colourful sea life.
But numbers have been hit by years of political instability, the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Tiger sharks are one of the larger shark species that can grow to over five metres. The live in mostly tropical and temperate waters and are among the most cited by the International Shark Attack File for unprovoked attacks on humans.
Last month an American tourist lost her foot in a shark attack while snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
