Surfer uninjured as shark bites board

Yesterday morning a man’s dawn surf turning into something else when the board he was riding was bitten in half by a shark at Norries Head, Cabarita – it comes less than two months after a boy was bitten by a shark at the same location.

The boardrider was uninjured in the attack.

The fear of sharks is something that those who swim and surf live with, and even though the chances of getting bitten are small, it does happen and this morning’s incident was a lucky escape.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) assisted Surf Life Saving NSW (SLS) and NSW Police in responding to the incident.

Likely a white shark

Preliminary assessment of the photos by DPIRD shark biologists suggest that the damage to the surfboard was likely from a white shark.

Following the incident the Government’s shark contractors set two SMART drumlines in addition to the five which are set, weather pending.

The SLS drone was also flying at Norries Head as part of the incident response. The beach is not patrolled at this time of year but warning signs have been erected at the beach.

Yesterday, an estimated 4m to 5m white shark was caught on a SMART drumline adjacent to Norries Head and dragged the line approximately 1.5km east of location at Norries headland at around 8.30am – however, the shark was able to get free of the hook before it was brought alongside the vessel, so no accurate measurements nor biological samples were obtained and the shark was not tagged.

In the past 30 days, there have been three tagged shark detections at Kingscliff receiver: on August 10 a bull shark #1872; on July 24 a bull shark #1872; on July 20 a bull shark #219.

In the past 30 days, there has been one shark tagged on SMART drumlines – on July 31 at 2.59m a white shark at Cabarita Beach.