Surfer fights off a great white shark in seas off Kangaroo Island and manages to paddle back to shore before being rushed to hospital
- Great white attacks surfer at popular surfspot D’Estrees Bay, Sunday afternoon
- 29-year-old local man managed to paddle himself back to shore
- Driven to Kangaroo Island hospital then airlifted to Adelaide
- Nine fatal shark attacks this year of which five were by great whites
A surfer has fought off a great white shark that mauled him at South Australia‘s tourist hotspot Kangaroo Island.
The shark struck at a popular break known by locals as ‘The Sewer’ on the north end of D’Estrees Bay about 1.25pm on Sunday.
The 29-year-old man, a Kangaroo Island resident, managed to paddle back to shore.
A member of the public came to his aid and drove him towards Kingscote, Kangaroo Island’s largest town.
The great white attacked a surfer at the northern end of D’Estrees Bay (pictured), on the south coast of Kangaroo Island on Sunday about 1.25pm
The man was flown from Kangaroo Island to Adelaide for treatment but his injuries are not life threatening. The great white shark attacked at D’Estrees Bay, a popular surf spot
Paramedics were first called at 1.25pm and intercepted the car on the way, Kangaroo Island newspaper The Islander reported.
They rushed the injured man to Kangaroo Island Hospital, Kingscote, and he was then flown to Adelaide for treatment.
His injuries are not believed to be life threatening.
South Australia Police said on Sunday they are closing D’Estrees Bay beach, along with Fisheries and the local council.
They asked people to avoid the area.
Kangaroo Island’s last shark attack was September 25, 2005 when Josh Berris, 26, was bitten on the legs while surfing with friends on the island’s southwestern tip.
Shark cage diving with great whites is a tourist attraction at the Neptune Islands Marine Park mid way between the Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island in the Southern Ocean, where fur seal colonies attract the sharks.
The attack follows a spate of attacks in Queensland, and comes less than a month after Cable Beach hotel worker Charles Cernobori was killed in Western Australia.
The 29-year-old man was rushed to Kangaroo Island Hospital (pictured) before being flown to Adelaide for treatment
Great white sharks (pictured) are responsible for five of Australia’s nine fatal shark attacks this year. Numbers have increased dramatically since they were protected nation-wide in 1999
This year has been Australia’s deadliest for shark attacks in 86 years with nine people killed so far, of which five were killed by great whites.
Great white sharks were protected in NSW in 1996 and in Australia in 1999, and their population has since increased.
Some water-sports enthusiasts have turned to personal electric shark deterrents for peace of mind.
Bond University associate professor Daryl McPhee wrote in The Conversation that one type of electric deterrent was found to reduce the percentage of bait taken by great whites from 96 per cent down to 40 per cent.
The best-performing device reduced bull shark consumption of bait by 42.3 per cent.
Professor McPhee said people could also reduce their risk by identifying times, locations and conditions to avoid, such as dawn and dusk.
Swimming with schools of baitfish or diving birds is also to be avoided, he wrote.
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