Woman beats off Great White shark
- 00:01:37
- ITN
Woman beats off Great White shark
An Australian woman has survived an attack by a Great White shark by beating it with a paddle after it knocked her off a surf ski.Linda Whitehurst, the shark's intended victim, said: "I thought this is it, he is going to grab my leg. I had my blade (paddle) and I just kept punching, punching, punching."She suffered only small lacerations on her right arm in the fight with the 8ft-long shark.She then managed to scrambling back onto her surf ski and paddling to shore at Byron Bay's famous surfing beach, "The Pass", on Australia's east coast.Police inspector Owen King said: "The shark circled the kayak (surf ski) and then swam directly at her."She was able to defend herself from the shark by striking it in the mouth with the paddle from the kayak. The shark then took off and swam away from her."Whitehurst was about 450ft from shore when the Great White struck.Boats patrolled the area looking for the shark and people were advised not to go in the water. The beach reopened a few hours later.Lifeguards said the attack was the second incident involving a Great White in less than a week.Lifeguard Stephen Leahy said: "There was a similar incident last Tuesday when a man in a kayak was menaced by a Great White, about eight to 10ft long, at Wategos Beach, just the next beach around from where this woman was attacked today."The attack was the second in Australia in three days. A 31-year-old man was bitten by a bronze whaler shark on Saturday while spearfishing off a charter boat on the Great Barrier Reef.In January, an Australian abalone diver miraculously escaped a Great White Shark attack after the shark half-swallowed him head first.The diver's lead weight vest saved his life by stopping the shark's teeth from biting him in half and the shark then released the diver.Australia had six shark attacks in 2006, according to the International Shark Attack File. There were 62 shark attacks worldwide in 2006.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.
ITN | October 15, 2007
