Spearfishing Shark Attack

This past week there were rumors of a shark attack. They ranged from some one hearing of an attack to a 5 meter Great White attacking a spearfisherman to a diver being swallowed by a Great White. I called the local sharks board guy on Thursday morning and at that stage he had not heard anything so I fobbed it off as stories.

That was until I got this email from Fourie Combrinck

Every Spearfishermans worst nightmare

On the 4th of May at about 8am we launched from Glenmore Beach on the lower south coast. It looked like to what was going to turn out to be a perfect day for some diving, flat see and only a light S Westerly blowing. Our late start was due to the problem that we could not get two stroke marine oil at the local garage the reason for this was  the ski boat compos which took place over the long week ends.
After diving on some spots in the Glenmore erea without any success we both decided to head towards one of our favorite spots in the Palm Beach er ea. I noticed a lot of activity in the water which I could make out to be red eyed sardines while turns were bombarding them from the air.
After anchoring and in a flurry to kit up we were soon both in the water because after the long spell of dirty water we where both eager to shoot some fish.The visibility was plus minus 6 to 7 meters and the temperature quite warm for this time of year according to me My dive buddy Trevor Burger beat me to it an soon bagged a nice bronzy. After he landed his second fish and me only seeing a big shoal of pinkys I drifted of to the southern side of the reef, about 20 to 25 meters away. After another fruitless down on which I only came across some black tails and a barbel I surfaced to see Trevor siting on the boat. He shouted to me to get to the boat as there was a shark in the vicinity. This was strange to me as we both have encountered sharks before with out them hassling us.
I was surprised to hear Trevor say that he was bitten by the shark. According to him he shot a banky (finger fin) at about 10 meters and on his way to the surface felt the shark biting on to his lower left leg and shaking him twice before letting go  and swimming away.He only saw the shark after it let go of him from behind and was unable to recognize the species, but we both suspect it to be a dusky as we have encountered them in the erea before. Again I was surprised by the speed of these animals underwater how quickly it attacked and disappeared.
Trevor bandaged his leg while I raced back to Glenmore from where my wife Lindy took him to hospital.
After some serious stitching (58) and crimps four days later Trevor was released from hospital  but like a true spearo cant wait for the wounds to heal so that he can go diving again
To all the people that lend a helping hand on the beach we want to say thank you and to the ouk that saw two spearos being attacked by a 5,5 great white in the same erea...sorry I know nothing of it.

This is not the kind of thing any of us enjoy hearing about, and sends shivers down my spine. Trevor sorry, this is heavy ... I guess on the bright side there is no disabling damage and you have one serious cool conversation starter next time your in the pub trying to chat up a blonde. God speed with your recovery and hope to see you in the water soon.

Coatesman