Good Lord Almighty. How big does a shark need to get to take a chunk that big out of a surf ski?
Here’s how the The Guardian described the local shark attack:
A teenager escaped unscathed after a “big shark” attacked his surf ski during a race at an Adelaide beach, tearing a hole in the vessel.
Nathaniel Drummond, 19, was competing in a surf ski race at Seacliff Beach in Adelaide’s south on Sunday when a shark, believed to be a great white, sent him flying into the water.
“The shark just came up and hit me from beneath,” Drummond said on Sunday.
“My ski just kind of lifted off the water and then next thing I knew I was in the air and I was in the water.
Just imagine the thoughts that must flash through your mind after you’ve been tossed in the air by a shark. The good news is that you’ve been thrown in the air. The bad news is that you know that in a split second you will be back in the water with that same monster.
Drummond was attacked about 30 seconds after the race started and was about 800 metres offshore at the time.
Nearby competitors were able to hoist him on to their skis until the rescue boat arrived.
Drummond was left unharmed by the attack, with a large bite instead taken out of his paddle ski.
Sharks are big, but no one ever said they were smart.
Daniel Willetts, emergency manager at Surf Life Saving SA, said “there’s no doubt he’s a lucky lad”.
Daniel is a master of understatement.
“We know these things happen sporadically all over the world … you can’t predict when it’s going to happen, so when you are undertaking some aquatic activities please do that in the company of other people.”
I beg to differ. You can predict with great certainty that shark attacks will not occur in the Barossa Valley because it’s about forty miles inland.
Ouch, that’ll leave a scar.