Great White Shark gets head into Shark Diving Cage!!! 03/21/2013 Gansbaai, SA

I went shark diving March 21st, 2013 for the first time in Gansbaai, South Africa with my sister Leanne Plummer and best friends Peter Lipscombe, Richard Lipscombe and Monica Kronfli .. and managed to catch this on film!!

A shark totally ignores the bait and goes straight for the cage!! He gets his head inside the cage, while fellow diver Roger (who got married the day before), acted quickly to swim below the gaping sharks mouth and to avoid any injury.

Apologies for any profanity in the video.. it was an out of control situation.

- Bryan Plummer

SAWDOS Holiday Alert 2012/2013: Planning a beach day?

Make sure you know how the Shark Spotters flags work in the False Bay area.

- 567 CapeTalk

Shark attack in Nigeria on Thursday, 11 October, 2012 at 16:42 (04:42 PM) UTC.

A 38-year-old woman, identified as Mrs. Torugbene-Ere Aboh, escaped death by the whiskers, following a violent attack on her by a shark at Forcados River in Oboro Community, Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State. Vanguard gathered that the woman, a mother of five, who was taking her bath in the overflowing river, had gone for a three-day fasting programme in a church in the community, when she was attacked by the shark in the river. Narrating her ordeal, Mrs Aboh, said: "Shortly after I started bathing, I felt a sharp cut on my right leg and I screamed for help. The screaming drew the attention of my brethren who were also in the river and they came to my rescue. "I was immediately taken to a nearby patent medicine shop, where I was given 12 stitches before I was later taken by my husband, to a private clinic at Bomadi, for proper medical treatment."

- RSOE EDIS

Red flags flying indicating high-shark activity along False Bay coastline – City cleaning shoreline

The City has reopened the beaches between Muizenberg and Monwabisi this morning since the removal of the Southern Right Whale carcass yesterday afternoon; however a high shark caution remains in place.

Red flags will remain flying at Shark Spotter beaches for the duration of the day.

Capricorn beach remains closed for the next few days until the whale blood and oil has dispersed sufficiently.

Water users in False Bay are advised to exercise extreme caution as the potential for increased shark activity in the area still remains.

Spotting conditions are appalling at the moment, and the wind is only going to get stronger for the rest of the day.

Beach users are advised that the general caution will remain in place until further notice.

An appeal is made to all water users to be vigilant at this time, obey the shark siren, and to take note of the Shark Spotters’ flags and signage for regular updates on shark sightings.

End

Issued by: Disaster Risk Management Centre, City of Cape Town


Source: Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, Head: Systems Integration, Special Projects and Disaster Operations, Disaster Risk Management Centre, City of Cape Town

City successfully recovers Southern Right Whale carcass from shoreline – beaches remains closed

The City’s disaster response teams successfully recovered the 30 metre Southern Right Whale carcass from the False Bay coastline after midday today [Monday, 08 October 2012].

At this stage it is unclear whether the whale was alive when the great white sharks attacked it or whether it died as a result of illness.

Under normal circumstances predators, like sharks, often sneak up on their prey, from behind or underneath.

Predators don't usually "face-off" as in a fight. A predator goes in quickly and quietly attacks the prey.

Also, predators choose the ill, injured, young or old animals to hunt as they are easier to catch.

The beaches between Muizenberg and Monwabisi will remain closed until the area has been cleared and declared safe.

The operation nearly took eighteen (18) hours and the disaster response teams had to await for the tides to recede to successfully recover the carcass.

The scientists from the Department of Environmental Affairs [Oceans & Coasts Branch] have taken samples off the carcass to perform a necropsy to be analysed in order to establish the cause of death.

The carcass will be transported to Vissershok Landfill Site for disposal.

End

Issued by: Disaster Risk Management Centre, City of Cape Town



Source: Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, Head: Systems Integration, Special Projects and Disaster Operations, Disaster Risk Management Centre, City of Cape Town

Southern Right Whale attacked by sharks – carcass washed ashore near Capricorn beach

CAPRICORN BEACH, CAPE TOWN – Earlier this afternoon [Sunday, 07 October 2012] a 30 metre Southern Right Whale carcass has been spotted offshore near Capricorn beach in Cape Town.

The whale carcass is approximately 3 kilometres pass Sunrise Circle after Capricorn beach and can been seen from Baden Powell Drive.

The disaster response teams of the City of Cape Town are on the scene; however surf conditions are not favourable to recover the carcass; and as a result of the fast approaching sunset.

It has been established that the whale has been bitten several times by great white sharks; and the bay is covered in a lot of blood; and pieces of blubber are afloat at sea.

As a result the City has raised red flags along the False Bay beaches as a precaution, due to the increase of fish activity in the bay that has the potential of attracting white sharks to the area.

The City has given an order to close off the shoreline between Muizenberg and Monwabisi beaches to the general public as a precautionary measure.

The Shark Spotters are constantly monitoring any sightings of sharks along the False Bay coastline.

The City is appealing to all water users to be vigilant at this time, obey the shark siren, and to take note of the Shark Spotters’ flags and signage for regular updates on shark sightings.

The rapid response teams of City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre and Environmental Resource Department; together with the Department of Environmental Affairs [Oceans & Coast Branch] will attempt to recover the carcass at first daylight [Monday, 08 October 2012).

Beach users are advised that the general caution will remain in place until further notice.

End

Issued by: Disaster Risk Management Centre, City of Cape Town

Source: Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, Head: Systems Integration, Special Projects and Disaster Operations, Disaster Risk Management Centre, City of Cape Town

Fish Hoek to get trial shark net

A view from above the shark spotters hut in Fish Hoek showing the bay and where the shark nets are going to be. Picture: Brenton Geach.

It might still mean a few months of baking on the beach at Fish Hoek, but come January it’ll definitely be safe to go back into the water.

That’s when the popular family beach will get its trial shark exclusion net, designed to address high shark activity in the area which was negatively affecting tourism-related business.

The net was to have been installed next month, but this had been delayed to January, the city’s head of environmental policy and strategy, Gregg Oelofse, has confirmed.

The original installation date of next month was to have coincided with the peak shark season, and the start of warmer weather.

Three shark attacks – two of them fatal – have occurred at Fish Hoek since 2004.

Oelofse said a permit for the trial, required from the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Department, had yet to be issued.

He said the city was consulting trek net fishers who had permits to fish in the area, to determine what impact the net would have on them.

This week the city warned beachgoers that shark activity would start increasing from now.

Shark sighting figures provided by the city for a six-year period indicate that shark sightings at Fish Hoek and St James beaches peak in October. At Muizenberg, activity peaked in December.

The net trial is expected to run for a year, and aims to determine whether the nets make the beach safer, whether they affect other marine life and ecologies, and what impact they have on trek net fishermen.

The initial plan involved creating a safe space, the size of about two rugby fields, for recreational use and for use by the lifesaving club. The net would start just off Jager Walk, running diagonally for about 350m to the law enforcement offices on the beach.

But Oelofse said changes had been made to the original plan since the February announcement. Now the net was

- Weekend Argus

Summer shark warning for Cape Town

The City of Cape Town warned beach users on Tuesday of increased shark movement in the coming summer months.

This was the time of year when a seasonal increase was expected in shark activity inshore, spokesman Gregg Oelofse said.

In a statement, he said this seasonal change was not unique to False Bay.

"Similar trends are recorded in Gansbaai, Mossel Bay and California --all areas that white sharks are known to frequent."

He said sightings by Shark Spotters had consistently shown increased activity from September to April, peaking in mid-summer.

"White sharks are present in the Cape's waters all year round, and the possibility of encountering one of these animals at any time is minimal. However, beach users should always remain vigilant."

Kayakers and surf-skiers were asked to be cautious between Sunnycove and Glencairn Beach, and swimmers were urged not to enter the water off Jaegers Walk, in Fish Hoek, as this was considered a high-risk area.

He said the city had erected warning signs along Jaegers Walk.

"Surfers are asked to be especially vigilant in the areas between the Sunrise Beach and Macassar Beach area during the summer months, as research has shown these to be areas of highest shark presence in False Bay in summer."

- TIMES LIVE

Beached whale raises shark alert in Mossel Bay!!

SAWDOS has issued an urgent warning that residents and visitors must avoid the coastal waters in the area of The Point in Mossel Bay due to the possible presence of sharks.

The beached whale at The Point in Mossel Bay is probably attracting sharks to the Point waters. The shark carcass washed up near The Poort, a very popular swimming area at The Point.

The carcass of the whale was found about 16:00 yesterday afternoon (Wednesday, 1 August 2012) where it  washed up on rocks.

The carcass has not yet been removed.

- SAWDOS

Whale stranded at The Point in Mossel Bay. (1 August 2012)

Images: SAWDOS (Click on images for larger view.)

I visited the point late yesterday afternoon to find that a whale has washed up amongst the rocks at The Point in Mossel Bay. The whale was already dead and the carcass was wedged into rocks at The Poort, close to the well known cave beneath the lighthouse. It was clear from the carcass that the whale must have been dead for a short time. I could not observe any decomposition of the carcass and there was no bad smell hanging in the air. However the authorities will have to move fast to get rid of the carcass. Its going to be a mammoth task as the carcass will have to be cut up piece by piece due to the bad terrain.

WARNING: Swimmers and surfers please stay out of the water for the next few days. The possibility exist that sharks may be drawn to the area as a result of the washed up whale carcass.

Jongensfontein Haai-slagoffer op herstelpad

Dit is hoe Jacques Mostert se branderplank gelyk het nadat die haai dit beet gekry het.Foto: Louise Mouton

MOSSELBAAI NUUS - Die 29-jarige man wat op Vrydag, 6 Julie deur 'n haai by Sandstrand in Jongensfontein naby Stilbaai aangeval is, sterk goed aan.

Mnr Jacques Mostert was ongeveer 15m van die strand af en oppad uit, toe hy uit die hoek van sy oog iets gewaar. "Ek het gedink dis 'n dolfyn." Maar toe die bykans 4.5m lange haai die eerste keer vlugtig verby hom swem, het adrenalien ingeskop en het Jacques vinnig sy voete op sy branderplank probeer lig. Die haai het toegeslaan en hom gebyt. Die haai se bo-kaak het onder sy heup in sy bobeen ingesink en die onderkaak in die middel van sy knie.

Jacques het toegekyk hoe die haai nog 'n keer om hom sirkel, skaars 'n meter van waar hy op sy branderplank was, onder die water in verdwyn en toe wéér om hom sirkel. Dit was toe wat 'n golf oor hom spoel en hom uitvat strand toe.
'n Vriend wat op die strand was het Jacques uit die water gehelp.

"Hy het my lewe gered deur 'n belt om my been te bind."

Volgens die woordvoerder van die NSRI, Craig Lambinon, het NSRI Stilbaai se span, Kaapse Natuurbewaring en die plaaslike polisie hulself na die strand gehaas. 'n Dokter wat per toeval ook daar was, dr Pieter Joubert, het gehelp om Jacques te stabiliseer.

Volgens Lambinon het Jacques twee ernstige laserasies, een aan sy linker bobeen en een aan sy linkerknie, met ernstige bloedverlies gehad.

Volgens die chirurg van die Life Bayview Hospitaal wat Jacques opereer het, kon hulle die haai se tandemerke op die femur voel. "Dit was baie naby aan 'n groot slagaar in sy onderbeen en 'n potensiëel baie ernstige besering," sê die chirurg.

In 'n operasie wat ongeveer 'n uur-en-'n-half geduur het, is sy wonde skoongemaak, die spiere en tendons en ook die senuwee is geheg. Teen druktyd was Jacques reeds uit die hospitaal ontslaan.

Mnr Jacques Mostert in sy hospitaalbed in die Life Bayview Hospitaal. Foto:LouiseKarsten

ARTIKEL: LOUISE KARSTEN, MOSSEL BAY ADVERTISER-JOERNALIS

Man vertel van haai-aanval in Jongensfontein

Jacques Mostert die afgelope week in 'n ligte luim in Life Bayview-hospitaal. Foto: Louise Karsten (Mosselbaai Advertiser joernalis)

JONGENSFONTEIN NUUS - Jacques Mostert, (29) 'n geoktrooieerde rekenmeester van Centurion, is Dinsdag uit die Life Bayview-hospitaal in Mosselbaai ontslaan nadat hy Vrydagaand 6 Julie by Sandstrand in Jongensfontein deur 'n haai aangeval is. Senuwees in sy bobeen en knie is in 'n noodoperasie geheg en daar lê nog 'n lang pad na herstel vir die jong man voor.

Mostert het branders gery by Sandstrand toe die ongeveer 4 m grootte haai hom aanval. Volgens berigte het hy die haai se swart dorsale vin in die water op hom sien afkom, waarna die haai deur sy branderplank gebyt en die tande in sy linkerbeen en knie vasgeslaan het.

Die haai het hom hierna gelos, weer afgeduik, maar weer om Mostert kom sirkel. Sy vriend De Wet Burger was op die strand ten tye van die aanval en het Mostert te hulp gesnel. Hy het met sy baadjie 'n toerniket om Mostert se been gesit en heel moontlik so sy vriend se lewe gered.

Louis en Shereen Labuschagne, plaaslike inwoners het hul na die strand gehaas en ook die plaaslike NSRI in kennis gestel.

Volgens Rico Menezies, (stasiebevelvoerder, Stilbaai NSRI) kan daar aan die bytmerke op die branderplank vasgestel word dat die haai ongeveer 4 m lank was. Die wydte van die bytmerk op die branderplank is 440 mm in grootte en 278 mm diep. Die tandgrootte is 24 mm en die tussenruimte tussen die buitekant van die tandmerke 75 mm. Tans is dit egter nie seker watter tipe haai vir die aanval verantwoordelik was nie.

Die laaste haai-aanval op Jongensfontein het op 7 Julie 2009 plaasgevind toe 'n branderplankryer, Paul Buckley (37) van Claremont, ook aan sy been gebyt is.

ARTIKEL: LOUISE MOUTON, SUID-KAAP FORUM-JOERNALIS

Survivor tells of his ordeal in the waves

The survivor of the most recent shark attack remembers watching how the dark shape in the water became a “massive” great white shark that bit into his leg while surfing with friends at Sand Beach in Jongensfontein near Stilbaai.

Jacques Mostert, 29, of Centurion, Pretoria, was surfing at Jongensfontein, about 20km from Stilbaai, when a shark attacked him on Friday afternoon.

“I was about to get out of the water, only about 15m into the surf, when I saw something swimming past me.

“At first I thought it was a dolphin, but then I realised I was in trouble. Then I just felt a hard hit on my side,” Mostert told the Cape Times while recovering at at Life Bay View Hospital in Mossel Bay on Sunday.

“It was as if a crazy dog had bitten into me because it started shaking my leg in the same way.

“It went under the water and then circled me twice. I managed to get a look at it and saw it was massive,” he said.

Mostert said he was terrified and had decided to “make peace” with what was happening to him.

“I was really scared. I’m very religious, so I believe a calmness came over me and I decided to stop panicking about something I couldn’t change.

“This was when a large wave came and I was able to paddle myself back to shore,” he said.

He won’t go back to surfing any time soon.

“The shark bit through the ligaments and nerves in the top part of my leg and my knee, so I can’t move my foot. I don’t know how to thank everyone that helped me,” he said.

His friend his friend De Wet Burger was with him, but had left the water by the time the attack happened.

“I rushed toward Jacques in the water. It all happened so fast,” he said.

National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) station commander Rico Menezies said the call for help came in at 5.15pm on Friday.

“NSRI Stilbaai volunteer sea rescue duty crew, CapeNature and the police responded to the scene. Mostert was found on the beach suffering from two serious cuts to his left upper leg and knee. He lost a large amount of blood, but remained conscious,” he said.

Menezies said medics and a local doctor, Pieter Joubert, stabilised Mostert at the scene.

“He was given intravenous fluids to compensate for massive blood loss,” he said.

Witnesses said the shark was between 4m and 4.5m in length, Menezies said.

Mostert is expected to be in hospital until the weekend, after which he will return to Pretoria.

Cape Times/IOL

UPDATE: SEA RESCUE STILBAAI, Saturday, 07th July, 2012. Shark bite survivor recovering well

NSRI spoke to Jacques Mostert, 29, from Centurion, this morning by telephone and he is in good spirits and recovering well in a Mossel Bay hospital.

He told us that his friend had exited the water while they were surfing and on his way out of the surf he was circled by a shark which bit him and he managed to swim out of the surf after being bitten and his friends ran into the water to help him out of the water before raising the alarm.

Hospital staff and doctors at Life Bayview hospital in Mossel Bay stitched his wounds last night and he remains in hospital receiving treatment but he is out of danger.


Craig Lambinon
Sea Rescue Communications

SEA RESCUE – JONGENSFONTEIN – Friday, 07th July, 2012. Gauteng man bitten by shark

Rico Menezies, NSRI Stilbaai station commander, said:

"At 17h15 on the afternoon of Friday, 07th July, NSRI Stilbaai volunteer sea rescue duty crew and the SA Police Force and Cape Nature, were activated following reports of a man bitten by a shark while surfing at Sandstrand (Sand Beach), Jongensfontein, 20 kilometers up the coast from Stilbaai – North East of Cape Town, approximately half way between Cape Town and Mossel Bay.

"NSRI Stilbaai volunteer sea rescue duty crew, Cape Nature and Police responded to the scene where the victim was found on the beach suffering two serious lacerations to his left upper leg and serious lacerations to his left knee with serious blood loss but conscious.

"NSRI medics and local doctor, dr. Pieter Joubert, treated the man on-scene, stabilizing him using tournique bandaging and intravenous fluid replacement, to compensate for massive blood loss, and oxygen therapy, and an ER24 ambulance was summoned and the patient has been transported to hospital in a serious but stable condition.

"He was surfing with friends and his fellow surfers, who reportedly witnessed the incident, removed him from the water.

"Initial estimates, based on the eye-witness accounts, and from the bite marks we estimate the shark to have been between 4 and 4.5 meters but the species of shark is not yet confirmed.

"The victim, 29 year old Jacque Mostert, from Eldorado Park, Centurion, Gauteng, was on holiday with friends and we believe his brother is with him too.

"The mother of the victim, in Centurion, has been informed and will relay the information to her husband who is in a hospital in Gauteng and they are reassured that their son is doing well and in good care."


-ENDS-


Released by:


Craig Lambinon
Sea Rescue Communications

Warning for bathers ahead of sardine run

South Coast residents have been urged to check with their local lifeguards before venturing into the sea as shark nets have been removed at some beaches.

The KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board's Mike Anderson-Reade says they've had to remove more nets following the arrival of the first shoals of sardines.

"We appeal to anyone going to visit the South Coast beaches, especially on the Hibiscus Coast, to just check with the life savers first before they go into the water.

"Margate has got nets at this stage in time, so has St Michael's, but that situation can change at any time," he said.

Around 400 baskets of the fish were pulled from the water in Hibberdene yesterday morning.

Reade says more sardines were spotted during a flight down the coast.

"There was activity in the Mtwalume area as well, but the fish were moving very quickly and unfortunately with the strong south-westerly winds that we have had, it is very difficult to see.

"We expect that once this wind has settled down that there will be more netting taking place, so it looks like we're in for a good week," he added.

- East Coast Radio News

Raw vision of shark feast

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

Incredible photos and vision of sharks feasting on a whale carcass in Western Australia may not do much for tourism but they certainly are a spectacular reminder of what lurks off the state's coast.

Surfer Rachel Campbell posted the images and footage - apparently from Warrorra Station, on the north-west coast of WA - on on her tumblr.com blog.

Campbell wrote that she would happily surf the waters of Western Australia's north coast again - but preferably without any finned and feed-hungry friends.

"Picture about thirty sharks, most of which seemed to be tiger sharks, all destroying a whale laying only a few feet from the shore," she said.

"The nightmare part was the mass of sharks devouring the one victim. The horror was only growing as I scanned along the beach.

"Over-sized beasts lined a stretch as far as I could see. Before long I realised there was about 100 sharks in total, some as long as 4m, all in a frenzy over fresh whale flesh."

- Stuff.co.nz

Shark deterrent put to the test

There’s good news and bad news for ocean swimmers who’ve forked out several thousand rand for an Australian-made personal protective device to ward off sharks – it works… but only some of the time.

And at least one shark was encouraged by the device.

The Shark Shield Freedom7 electric deterrent, also marketed and sold in SA, is one of the most popular of its kind, but until recently its effectiveness had never been subject to independent scientific testing.

Now a comprehensive study has been done by Australian scientists and SA research colleagues who did some of the work in False Bay.

Led by the South Australian Research and Development Institute (Sardi), it involved 116 trials using a static bait at the Neptune Islands in South Australia, and 189 trials that involved towing a seal decoy near Seal Island.

The results showed that while the deterrent had an effect on the behaviour of white sharks, it did not deter or repel them in all situations and nor did it repel all individual sharks.

“While it was expected that the deterrent would dissuade white sharks from taking a static bait, the ability of the deterrent to stop a white shark in a targeted predatory behaviour was unknown.”

One particular shark actually seemed to be encouraged by the device – it took the bait four times faster when the deterrent was activated.

The proportion of baits taken during static bait trials was not affected by the deterrent. However, the deterrent increased the time it took to take a static bait, and increased the number of interactions on each approach.

During the dynamic seal decoy tows, no breaches and only two surface interactions were observed when the deterrent was activated, compared to 16 breaches and 27 surface interactions when the deterrent was not activated. Breaches are common predatory behaviour.

“The results showed that the deterrent had an effect on the behaviour of white sharks, but did not deter or repel them in all situations.

“Future studies should focus on testing the effect of deterrents less than 2m from the bait, in locations not frequented by cage-diving operators, and on other potentially dangerous sharks, such as tiger sharks and bull sharks,” the study concluded.

One of the South Africans involved in the study was Dr Alison Kock, research manager for the city’s Shark Spotters organisation.

She told the Cape Argus that

she and her fellow shark researchers were frequently asked whether the shark shield worked and how effective it was.

“And up until now, there’s been limited information available to make informed comment. This study provides us with a greater insight into the deterrent’s effect on white shark behaviour,” she said.

“The combined results of the study indicate that while the risk of an attack may be reduced wearing a shark shield, the shields failed to repel great whites in all cases.”

- Cape Argus

Shark research expedition completed

MOSSEL BAY NEWS FLASH - The OCEARCH research expeditions are complete, a history-making success for the more than 30 leading South African and international shark researchers from over 16 institutions who participated.

The researchers and crew of the MV OCEARCH tagged, sampled and released over 40 sharks - primarily Great Whites. Among them was a female shark named Success, at 5.1m, the largest Great White ever tagged in South Africa.

Expedition Leader and OCEARCH founder Chris Fischer credits the expeditions' accomplishments to preparation and exceptional hard work by the scientists and crew.

"Since 2007, we have executed 12 expeditions, catapulting the body of knowledge forward on the science of the ocean's giants. Those expeditions prepared us for South Africa, the most demanding expedition to date."

Fischer believes this access will allow South African researchers to push science beyond current knowledge boundaries.
"We will discover South Africa's White Shark breeding aggregations, birthing sites and feeding areas," he says.

"Breeding and birthing areas, where White Sharks are most vulnerable, are a great concern. For the first time, we will have the information necessary to affect policy correctly and ensure a bright future for the White Sharks of South Africa."

- Mossel Bay Advertiser

Update: Mossel Bay - Close encounter with great white

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A 3m great white shark gave local surfing legend Llewellyn 'Lu' Whittaker the fright of his life, at Outerpool, at Mossel Bay's Point.

The SA junior surfing team coach and long-time Mossel Bay resident says he has been surfing in Mossel Bay since the age of 10, and at The Point since he was 12; he has surfed in Tergniet, Glentana and all the 'sharkie spots', but never in his wildest dreams expected to have such a close encounter 'on his own doorstep'.

It happened on Sunday, 20 May, when the swell was big and the sea quite stormy. Lu had taken six kids out for training and they were waiting for the tide to change so they could go surf 'dingdang'.

He went out by himself and after about 40 minutes waiting right at the back of the waves, he saw something coming towards him from the corner of his eye.

'A shark was swimming towards me, diagonally from my right hand side.'

The shark was within a metre of him, so close that he was easily able to identify it as a great white.

Instinctively, he pulled his feet up on his board and then the shark back off, creating a distance of about 5m.

However, it turned around - at an alarming speed and vigour - and came straight back at Lu. It was then that Lu realised he needed to get away and he started padding towards the rocks, watching the shark over his shoulder.

'It was following me, I'm not sure for how long, because after looking back about two or three times, I stopped looking and focused on getting to the rocks,' Lu recalls. He says he's seen sharks before, but this one was big enough for him to be really scared and as he was paddling, he was praying out loud. Only when he reached the rocks, he realised that he had made it and started screaming from the adrenaline and pure relief.

'I wouldn't say the shark was aggressive, just inquisitive,' he says.

'In my 24 years of surfing, this was the closest encounter I've had. It's the most bizarre experience - I can't get the picture out of my mind.'
Not that this has put him off from ever surfing again - he left this week for Cape Town for the Billabong SA Champs.

ARTICLE: MARI SCOTT - Mossel Bay Advertiser