Shark News

Father was right there with the boy

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 2 March, 2009 : - - A 15 year old boy has been mauled by a shark on Sydney's northern beaches, in the third shark attack in Sydney in less than three weeks. The boy was surfing off Avalon Beach early on Sunday morning when the shark attacked, inflicting severe lacerations to his upper left leg.

Nick Miller from the Avalon Surf Lifesaving Club said the surfer was in the water with his father when the shark attacked. "The father and son were out surfing this morning," Mr Miller told ABC Radio. "It got him around the top of his leg and his calf muscle and the father came in and dragged him in." Witness Dylan Cram told Sky News: "I saw the two of them paddling in and frantically screaming 'shark'. It was a pretty bad thing to witness."

Other beach-goers said the boy, who had bites to his calf and thigh, was able to walk out of the water. His father used his t-shirt as a tourniquet while an ambulance was called, and he was airlifted to Royal North Shore hospital.  A hospital spokesman said he had wounds to his upper left leg, and he was in a stable condition. His leg had not been severed.

It is believed the shark is around five to six feet, but it is not yet known what type of shark it is. Helicopter searches of Avalon and neighbouring beaches, which are popular with Sydney surfers have failed to spot the shark.

Richard Andjelkovic of Sydney Surf Lifesaving told The Times the number of shark sightings on Sydney beaches had increased recently. "Last weekend we closed a large number of beaches after a shark was spotted," he said. "The number of shark sightings have been up in the last while. We're not sure why, it might be because the waters are cooler and there are a lot more fish around."

Read the full article at the Times Online

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Source: Times Online

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