Environment

Shark attack: man bitten

by Paul Conneally | January 11, 2009 at 12:57 am

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Reports that sharks actually have a relatively weak bite won't come as much consolation to this surfer who was bitten on the thigh whilst surfing out by Fingal Head in New South Wales, Australia.

Stories about sharks biting and even eating people have made sharks frightening to most people although overall there are not that many shark attacks worldwide and even less deaths.

It's probably sensible to be a little wary of some shark species when swimming and even the fact that most shark attacks on humans are 'accidental' in that the shark maybe thought the human (as it appears in this case) was a dolphin or some other tasty ocean critter, one wouldn't want to be first course on any such accidental menu.

Before the advent of shark nets, coasts where surfers, swimmers and sharks mixed were more dangerous but even then attacks were relatively low. The shark gets a bad press generally and despite environmentalist's efforts to get us to view sharks for what they are, amazing and wonderful creatures of great diversity, the general public still find it hard to 'love a shark'.

Learn more about sharks at the Shark Trust website

A man surfing on the far north coast of NSW saw violent splashing before being bitten on the thigh by a shark, a local lifeguard says.

Emergency services were called to Fingal Head, south of Tweed Heads, following reports a 31-year-old board rider had been attacked by a shark just before 9.30am (AEDT) on Sunday.

The man was bitten on the fleshy part of his left thigh while surfing about 70m offshore, NSW Police said.

Northern NSW lifeguard coordinator Stephen Leahy said the man, believed to be from Brisbane, was surfing at the unpatrolled South Fingal beach with three friends when he was attacked.