Shark attacks surfer near Gracetown in WA's South West, delaying Margaret River Pro
Updated
A man is in a stable condition in hospital after he was bitten by a shark near Gracetown in Western Australia's South West, with the attack forcing the temporary suspension of the nearby Margaret River Pro international surfing competition.
The attack at Cobblestones beach was reported shortly before 8:00am, with an ambulance crew from Margaret River and the rescue helicopter sent to the scene.
The surfer was flown to Royal Perth Hospital [RPH], with a St John Ambulance spokesman saying he was conscious and breathing.
He said paramedics on the ground reported that first aid from the man's friends was crucial in the moments after the attack, as they used a leg rope to stem blood flow.
Surf photographer Peter Jovic witnessed the attack from the beach and said it reminded him of Mick Fanning's encounter with a shark at Jeffreys Bay.
"A shark popped up and pretty much ended up knocking a surfer from his board," he said.
"There was a lot more thrashing around. After that it was hard to see what was going on.
"[I] saw the guy who had been attacked get separated from the [surf] board and then start to paddle for an inside wave, which he managed to body surf all the way in.
"They got him to shore and started working on him to stem the bleeding."
An RPH spokeswoman said the man was in a stable condition and was due to undergo surgery.
Shark launched out of the water: witness
Another witness, Brett Newland, said there were about five surfers in the area when "a big shark popped up in the water amongst them".
"It swam under a couple of guys and came around and bit a third person," he said.
"We could see its fin, and then when it attacked the man we could see its tail splashing and saw it launch up out of the water at him.
"It was a large shark and from the way it was behaving, it would have been a white pointer.
"All the other surfers swam to him, helped him get away from his board and leg rope and helped him get on a wave, and luckily [he] caught a wave onto the reef."
Mr Newland said the man was conscious the whole time.
"The surfers that helped him in got tourniquets on his legs as soon as they got on the shallow reef, and then other people came down from the carpark and put him onto a surfboard and carried him up to the carpark," he said.
"He had cuts to both legs."
Whale carcass found nearby
Beaches in the Gracetown area have been closed, including North Point, Big Rock and Lefthanders.
The Department of Fisheries also said a whale carcass had been reported at Lefthanders beach in the wake of the attack.
An alert has been issued warning beach users the decomposing carcass could draw sharks close to shore along the coastline.
A department spokesman said it had two vessels on the water in the area to advise people of the attack and the whale carcass, and to monitor the situation.
Safety of surfers 'top priority': World Surf League
The Margaret River Pro is being held nearby and had been taking place in Gracetown over the weekend.
Heats had today returned to Main Break in Prevelly, about 15 kilometres away, but the competition was put on hold after the attack.
Organisers decided to resume the competition about an hour later with "enhanced safety measures" after discussions with local authorities and surfers.
"We are confident, we wouldn't have resumed if we didn't feel that way," WSL commissioner Kieren Perrow said.
"We've stepped up the presence of our jet-ski team, [our] water safety team.
"Typically we have three or four in the water dedicated to surfer safety and also to our shark safety protocol and we've stepped that up now, we've actually got seven in the line-up and we've increased our drone presence to two.
"Surfer safety is the foremost of our minds."
Hawaiian pro surfer John John Florence had a close encounter while surfing in the region in the lead up to the competition.
In video posted on social media, he recounted seeing something in the water and a splash before he raced back to shore.
He put a drone in the air and the video revealed two large sharks.
Topics: animal-attacks, shark, wa, gracetown-6284
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