STORY: Shark attacks Australian teenager (Library image by Andrea Bohl from Pixabay)
An Australian teenager is lucky to be alive after surving a shark attack.
The hunter became the hunted when Lachlan Pye was spearfishing off North Queensland on Saturday. According to the 18-year old, a bullshark almost bit his foot off.
“So this happened. Yesterday this bull shark came up to me and snapped my fin in half and took it right off my foot. Was pretty lucky.” he posted on Facebook along with images of the too-close encounter.
Speaking to 9News, Pye said he didn’t even see the shark until it was almost too late. He described the attack as “two minutes of terror”.
The young fisherman said the shark attacked by stealthily approaching him from underneath. When the 1.5 metre bullshark snatched it’s jaws down on his swimming fin all he could do was kick in the hope of release.
“It pulled my foot down, I felt my ankle move and I looked down and it had taken a couple of chomps at the fin,” he told 9News.
“I feel pretty lucky I’ve got my feet still,” he said of the shark attack. However, Pye insisted he’ll be back in the water, doing what he loves.
“That’s the risk you take,” he told 9News.
Meanwhile, a shark attack of a different kind has been recorded by oceanographer, Dean Cropp.
A tiger shark decided he wanted a taste of the Australian film-maker’s boat. In footage for his YouTube channel Barefoot Captain, the large shark can be seen repeatedly biting the side of the vessel.
The incident was caught while filming off the coast of NSW for his Covid-19 self–isolation series.
Australia has the highest number of fatal shark attacks in the world. However, between 1959-2018 there had only been a total of 537 attacks recorded in Australia, with just 74 of those being fatal.
Attacks by sharks appear to have become more prevalent in recent years in Australia. Many researchers say this has to do with a growing human population’s encroachment on the sharks’ natural habitat, though.