Archive for the 'Australia' Category
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
A Sydney man stared was mauled by a shark while swimming in the Solomon Islands yesterday.
Benjamin D’Emden, 34, was holidaying on a remote island resort when the shark attacked him from below, biting him on his face! D’Emden was left with severe cuts to his face and neck. He was flown to the capital Honiara’s main hospital by an emergency medical charter.
Doctors at the National Referral Hospital were last night working to stabilise Mr D’Emden so he could be flown to Australia for emergency treatment.
[source]
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
Nicholas Edwards, father-of-two, died after being attacked by a large shark in Western Australia’s world famous Margaret River surfing region.
Dunsborough police Sergeant Craig Anderson said 31-year-old Edwards was on his last day of vacation when he was attacked 300 metres from the South Point surf break south of Cowaramup Bay, near Gracetown.
Sergeant Anderson said a couple walking on the beach about 8am (WST) saw him sitting on his board waiting for a wave but when they turned around four minutes later, he had disappeared.
“They just saw the board only and a lot of grey objects around the board,” Sergeant Anderson said
“They’ve gone down a bit further and seen the fellow face down in the water amongst the rocks.”
It took the pair another six minutes to wade in and pull the unconscious surfer from the water. Sergeant Anderson said he was believed to already be dead but one of the rescuers tied a tourniquet and began CPR with the help of surfers who were suiting up in the carpark at the time.
“It appears that his right leg has been shredded with some significant injuries to the top of his leg and minor injuries to the calf,” Sergeant Anderson sa
About 10 minutes later his board washed up to shore after being bitten in half.
[source + video + pics]
[more video]
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
A surfer was knocked off his board and badly bitten by an unidentified shark on a remote beach on Western Australia’s south coast on Sunday.
The man was surfing at Conspicuous Beach, a rugged and isolated stretch of the Southern Ocean near the southwest town of Walpole, when he was attacked just after noon.
An ambulance rushed the man to Denmark Hospital and then transferred to a larger hospital in the southern city of Albany where he is expected to undergo surgery.
The surfer’s leg is believed to have been badly bitten during the attack.
Although the type of shark is yet to be identified, great whites are common in the area.
[source]
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
A man was bitten by a shark while surfing at Point Plomer on Tuesday afternoon. Craig Gibson from Bribie Island had just finished riding a wave when the shark, believed to be a bull shark, struck about 4.30pm.
Gibson punched it in the head a few times but it didn’t let go. He had to wrestle with it to get away. Blood was pouring down Gibson’s leg from his calf to his ankle and he had jagged cuts. A paramedic at the camping ground administered first aid and Gibson was able to walk away with no major injuries.
[source]
Monday, April 5th, 2010
A shark sighting forced the cancellation of the annual Tamarama to Clovelly ocean swim halfway through the event.
Race director Joel Turner said about half of the 850 or so entrants were not able to swim out after a shark was spotted off Bronte Beach in Sydney’s east about 12.30pm.
About 100 swimmers were escorted to shore by race officials part way through the course. Nobody got eaten though.
[source]
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
A mummified shark was been found on the rocks of Black Point, Australia.
Maritime Museum curator Paul Mazourek found the young Port Jackson shark preserved and stuck between two rocks last month. He believed the young adult died from natural causes, because there were no puncture wounds.
He said it was preserved through a “natural mummification” process, which combined regular and repeated exposure to salt water and sun. Because the shark was trapped between the rocks, it was exposed to the sun during the day and then washed over by water as the tide came in.
The shark is now on display at the museum among only two other “mummies” found locally.
They include a large stingray, also found by Mr Mazourek, and a baby Port Jackson shark.
[source]
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
A Melbourne beach was evacuated after a resident in a high-rise apartment spotted a shark swimming close to shore.
The unconfirmed sighting at Middle Park beach comes one day after an 8ft shark swam within 15ft of swimmers at the Brighton Pier.
A Victoria Police spokesman said officers were called to Middle Park about 1.15pm after a man reported seeing a 6ft shark in the water.
The police airwing also conducted sweeps over the beach, however it was unable to spot the shark.
The beach was closed for about two hours.
[source]
Monday, March 15th, 2010
An 8ft shark was spotted swimming around the pier at Brighton Beach this morning, about 15ft away from swimmers.
The shark was spotted by a woman running on the pier, who immediately reported the sighting.
There were about four or five people in the water near the shark, totally unaware until someone pointed it out. They left the water unharmed.
[source]
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
An Australian woman suffered massive blood loss and was airlifted to hospital Saturday after being savaged by a shark off an island on the Great Barrier Reef.
The 60-year-old was dragged underwater by the shark near Dent Island on the popular Whitsundays around lunchtime.
The woman lost several litres of blood from deep leg wounds and severe lacerations to her buttocks.
She was taken by dive boat to nearby Hamilton Island for an emergency blood transfusion before being airlifted to the Australian mainland for treatment.
This is the second shark attack in Australia in a week… a man was bitten while surfing with his young son by a wobbegong shark on Thursday. He was left with a tooth fragment in a leg.
[source]
