Surfer Survives Close Call With Great White Shark in Australia

A surfer in Australia had a close call with a great white shark that left a large bite mark on his surfboard and broke it in half.

Brad Ross was surfing at Cabarita Beach, a popular beach in the north of the eastern state of New South Wales, on Monday morning, when the approximately four-meter-long shark attacked him, according to local media News.com.au.

The moment was captured on a video filmed by a neighbor and later shared by the Tweed County Council on Facebook. The video shows Ross falling and thrashing violently in the water near the shoreline, before disappearing. Seconds later, the surfer can be seen emerging. He suffered no injuries from the attack. 

“At approximately 7:30 this morning, Surf Life Saving NSW was notified via a 000 call of an incident at Norries Headland, Cabarita Beach, where a local surfer had suffered a huge chunk bitten out of his surfboard. Lifeguards responded immediately,” the council stated on Facebook.

A photograph shared by the council shows Ross after the incident holding up his surfboard, which was split in two with a huge shark bite in the middle.

The attack comes after a teenage swimmer was mauled at the same beach by a shark in June. The boy, a 16-year-old, was hospitalized for leg and arm injuries, reported Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

The council reported that a drone surveillance system was put in place after the recent incident and continued throughout the day, with Cabarita Beach remaining closed for one day as a precaution.

It added that on Monday at 9:52 a.m., a 5-meter white shark was captured and released by SMART Drumline—a shark monitoring and capture system—at Norries Headland, Cabarita Beach. The council didn’t specify whether it thought it was the same shark that attacked Ross. 

The council advised swimmers to swim between the flags and obey the instructions of lifeguards, avoid entering the water when there are schools of fish or seabirds feeding, and check the SharkSmart app before going out.

Dave Rope, rescue director for Surf Lifesaving Far North Coast, Australia’s highest authority on coastal safety and rescues, said Ross had been “very, very lucky” to escape unharmed from the encounter with the  shark, but urged caution among swimmers.