Shark attack at Mona Vale 11/2/2010

[admin]

Hey all,

In case RealSurf site gets blitzed by traffic again... here's what I posted over there just now.
Audio interview here: http://bit.ly/a7LSJ2
0940 UPDATE:
Have just done short interview with Matt which I will convert to an mp3 to share soon.
Matt said that Paul was attacked in the basin while pushing his son into the tiny waves on a foamy. The shark pulled him back and he had to struggle to haul himself free and get his lad to safety before climbing out.

He was able to walk back to the car under his own steam.

But here's the kicker. There was a Discovery channel crew down there that morning filming a segment on - you guessed it - sharks!

They had a shark expert more or less talking to camera while in the background Paul is fighting with a shark. I daresay it'll be on youtube by this afternoon!

The shark expert guy apparently said it was a 4-5 foot long great white (obviously a pretty young one!).

More pics in a sec and the whole interview as soon as I can get it organised.

UPDATE: pics from Matt Jones now uploaded and Matt reports that the injured man is Paul Welsh who by now is probably being fixed up at Mona Vale hospital. Radio report says the beach is now closed.

Big news from alumni reporter Matt J who reports a person has been injured by a shark at Mona Vale. Matt says the person is okay. He's sent some pics which I will post as soon as I can get them off my phone.(We have a bug that was making the page not work properly so I'm cutting over to our emergency plain vanilla look for now.)

[aaronn]

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[Natho]

I will slam my nuts in my own car door if that was a White that did that graze to his leg. Im happy to be proven wrong and lose my nuts in the process.

Tread on a Wobbygong and that's what will happen. There are plenty of Wobbys right where he got bitten at Mona.

There was a nice sized shark out the back at Mona on the weekend going mental at a school of fish witnessed by myself and at least 2 others. In fact there have been a few in the area of late as always. Trust me if that shark had gone him then he wouldn't have a leg left, let alone just received a small gash as per the pick.

I wish him well in his recovery though.

[Karlos]

I'm with you on that one Natho. From the Manly Daily:

“I was pushing my son on to waves and it just belted me from behind,’’ Welsh told The Manly Daily minutes after the attack.

“I grabbed on to the pinnacle of a rock and held on as it tried to drag me out.... and I won.’’

Witnesses said Welsh grabbed on to the rocks to try and pull himself to shore and the great white tried to drag him back into the water.

Fair dinkum it sounds just like the scene in Jaws at the end when Robert Shaw slides down into the shark's mouth as the boat sinks. But then you look at the picture of his injury & it does look like he stepped on a wobbygong & got a bit of a gumming for his trouble.

Maybe it's all a ruse to thin the crowds for a few days. Run for the hills!

[Kunji]

Yeah, looks like a Wobby bite. He might have stepped on one. They are very reactionary and can bend around and bite their tails if need be. The report said that there is at least one tooth still in. So we'll wait and see.

[Karlos]

How good are the pics they use on the Manly Daily website story:

Firstly:

0b4b9215d0d6af619e4e9bec237c1cca_resized.jpg (12.99 KiB) Viewed 5606 times

Followed by:

165b675601395971ecc2526718b8c014_resized.jpg (8.63 KiB) Viewed 5603 times

I reckon he's a miracle man escaping the bloodthirsty clutches of that beast.

[robzig]

[Natho]

Massive media beat up on a slow news day, with realsurf right in there leading the charge.
The crowds, SUPs and kooks that surf Mona Vale pose far more of a risk to people than sharks.

I ended up in Mona Vale hospital last week getting my face stitched up due to dodging some kook in the way. That never made the media.

[robzig]

[Nick Carroll]

Man....the beaches were alive with fcuken news helicopters following this little episode.

i BET that Michael Brown guy will be front and centre in the press tomorrow morning yelping about how his shark spotting service would have saved Paul from the terrible jaws of that wobbegong.

[lessormore]

But a shark expert said it was a white pointer! Or maybe he was distracted by a young lass sunbathing topless on the beach at the time!

[GAV!N]

Sure he didn't just have a close encounter with an oyster on said rocks?
If that was proven to be a great white, i'll gladly try and eat my own tongue. Get ready, next it will be a 'rogue' terrorizing sydney beaches. He's got a taste for human blood now but didn't get his stomach full!

[el rancho]

But a shark expert said it was a white pointer! Or maybe he was distracted by a young lass sunbathing topless on the beach at the time!

white-pointers? wtf is it the 1970s humour week again?

[bombora]

Confirmed; was a wobbie; the wound and tooth from wound say so.

[Natho]

It was funny listening to the radio.

They said 'the Westpac Chopper buzzed overhead trying to find the predator, but they couldn't find it'.

ha ha you gotta be kidding.

Of course they couldn't find it. The poor little fella would have gone straight back under his little rock.

They are now saying the bloke that got the little scratch is not talking as he has sold his story to a media outlet.

Can't blame him really for cashing in on this non event. You wait and listen to the huge story thet gets made up about it.

Wonder if Discovery will send a diver down to get the real story from the poor little guppy hiding under his little rock.

I

[MrLewis]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - brilliant.

Right, now can we name and shame the "shark expert" from Discovery Channel who confidently made the "Great White" call?

Brilliant. (Not taking away from the bloke who copped it though - even a wobby'll give you a hell of a scare when you're not expecting it - had some nasty surprises while diving for lobster, thats for sure).

[Kunji]

Confirmed; was a wobbie; the wound and tooth from wound say so.

Where was this confirmed, Bombie?

[bombora]

DPI fisheries scientist Vic Peddemors went up and examined the tooth which cops had kept. Seen a pic; classic needle tooth of a wobbie, not a cutting triange GWS tooth nor a "cock's comb" cutting AND grabbing tooth from a bull.
The shape of teh wound first aroused suspicions by the experts (as id did the wise men of Real Surf!)
Will probably make the radio buletins soon.