Terrifying moment a surfer comes face to face with a shark – as he shares the risky tactic he used to escape
- Terrified bodysurfer suffers terrifying encounter with huge six-foot shark
- He was surfing with a friend at Gunnamatta Surf Beach in Victoria on Monday
- Heart-racing footage reveals swimmer thrashing and yelling at the animal
A shaken bodysurfer has revealed the terrifying moment he came face to face with a six-foot shark while swimming in deep water.
The man was surfing with a friend at Gunnamatta Surf Beach in Fingal, Victoria, on Monday when he suffered the extremely close call.
In terrifying footage captured of the heart-racing encounter, the man spots the shark and immediately begins to thrash at the animal with his fins – which experts say can make humans look like a tasty seal to the predators.
The shaken bodysurfer said as soon as he pressed record, the four to six foot shark he believes was a broadnose sevengill, began to swim straight towards him
The shaken bodysurfer told Daily Mail Australia he remembers feeling a sudden eeriness at being so far out to sea, just seconds before the shark appeared.
‘I thought about how peaceful it was and how the ocean floor must be so far below me, which made me think of sharks’, he explained.
‘I was out on my Surfmat, a very lightweight inflatable surfcraft and was trialling an experimental 360 degree camera/helmet set up.’
The Victoria resident said as soon as he pressed record, the shark – he later identified as a broadnose sevengill – began to swim straight towards him.
Startled by its sudden presence, the man quickly realised the shark wasn’t a Great White and felt relieved for a second, before ‘sheer panic and reflex’ quickly set in.
After kicking at the shark with his fins, the man began to yell, hoping it would frighten the shark but also attract the attention of a surfer in the distance.
The man was bodysurfing with a friend at the Gunnamatta Surf Beach in Fingal, Victoria (pictured) on Monday when he encountered the six-foot shark
The Victoria resident has indicated on a map where in the water he was bodysurfing when the shark suddenly appeared next to him
‘Apparently the idea is to stay calm and slowly swim into shore and fast thrashing movements attracts action from sharks’, he said.
‘I had been motionless when it first came up to me, and my thrashing scared it off, so I haven’t decided if I reacted in the best possible way.’
It took ten terrifying minutes for the bodysurfer to paddle the distance back to shore due to a strong current.
The grateful escapee uploaded the hair-raising footage to Reddit, where users debated his reaction to the shark in the comments.
‘Hey Mr Shark, check out my panicked seal impression’, one man said sarcastically.
The bodysurfer replied to his comment, admitting that as he flailed in the water it had briefly crossed his mind he was appearing more appetising to the shark.
‘I had to turn away from my exposed side and kick at it with my fins, as they were the only physical defences I had’, the bodysurfer told Daily Mail Australia
‘Everyone s****ing on this guy for panicking, what else could he have done? He’s alive and safe now’, another user pointed out.
‘Yeah, a couple weeks ago a man was killed by a shark in my home town, so that was immediately on my mind’, the swimmer responded.
‘Those first few moments swimming away, just waiting to hear a crash of water and feel those teeth sink in, talk about living a nightmare’, a third commented.
This is the most genuine response I’ve ever seen on the internet’, another joked, to which the swimmer replied ‘I’m a bit of a drama queen’.
However, the bodysurfer reassured internet users he wouldn’t be chased out of the water so easily, and would be returning to the same spot the following weekend.
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