Shark Attack

Shark attack off Broken Head
Saffron Howden | 30th July 2009
A file picture of a Bronze Whaler.


A 14-year-old surfer was thrown into the air and left with a graze and a punctured wetsuit after a shark made a bee-line for his board this morning near Byron Bay.

The Northern Star understands the local boy, who was surfing off Broken Head, was paddling back out from the shore when he and the shark collided.

The impact caused the boy to fly into the air and his wet suit was swiped and punctured, leaving him grazed.

It is understood his injuries are not severe.

The attack comes as the shark season ramps up in line with the migration of fish they feed on.

"(Shark season) seems to correspond with the run of Australian salmon up the coast," fisherman and fishing correspondent Tony Zann said.

"The professional industry has virtually stopped fishing for them."

But Mr Zann said shark attacks could happen at any time.

"At any time of the year if you’re swimming or surfing around a great school of fish your chances of being bitten by a shark are raised astronomically," he said.

Mr Zann said sharks were particularly active at first and last light.

http://www.finda.com.au/story/2009/07/3 ... oken-head/

A TEENAGE surfer has escaped with superficial cuts and a ripped wetsuit after being knocked from his board by a shark on the New South Wales north coast.---


Shark knocks teen surfer off board


July 30, 2009
Article from: Australian Associated Press
A TEENAGE surfer has escaped with superficial cuts and a ripped wetsuit after being knocked from his board by a shark on the New South Wales north coast.

The boy, named in media reports as 14-year-old local Zac Skyring, was out for an early surf off Broken Head, just south of Byron Bay, when he was knocked off his board just after 6am (AEST) today.

He was reportedly thrown into the air by the impact of the shark, which punctured his wetsuit, but later went to school.

Witness Neil Cameron told the ABC the teenager had several small puncture marks on his lower arm.

He says the boy and his father paddled back out to warn him other surfers of the danger.

"His dad had the idea - he wanted to get him back in the water. Otherwise he reckoned ... he'd never get him in the water again,'' he said.

Tony Lewis, manager of the Broken Head Holiday Park, said his staff had told him about the incident.

"All we really know is that some kid was knocked off his board and he got a bit of grazing,'' he said.
"It was no big deal, just a little mark on his board and a little graze on his body was apparently all that he got.

"My groundsman here is a surfer and he says it happens all the time, so they weren't even concerned.''

The shark was believed to be a one-and-a-half-metre bronze whaler, according to the ABC.


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/st ... 84,00.html