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VETERAN surfer Russell Specht has survived a terrifying face-to-face encounter with a monster great white shark stalking North Stradbroke Island.

The 52-year-old surfer, local lifesavers and island boardriders fear the huge man-eater was responsible for the horrifying shark-on-shark attack off the island, east of Brisbane, which The Sunday Mail featured in graphic photographs in late October.

The smaller 3m white pointer, snared on a baited drumline set off North Stradbroke’s busy Cylinder Beach, was almost bitten in half by the bigger shark.

Mr Specht, who has surfed for more than four decades on the island, said he and fellow surfers who were used to swimming with sharks had switched to predator alert.

“It was frightening. It was like a submarine heading towards me. I didn’t expect to live,” Mr Specht said.

He and several mates were surfing more than 100m off Main Beach when a younger boardrider shouted to them about the approaching monster.

“This thing came at me from behind. The other four guys with me, they took off to the beach and left me,” Mr Specht said.

“My first instinct was to paddle out to sea. Then I thought that this is not right, this is exactly what he wants me to do.”

Mr Specht bravely chose to sit quietly on his board and “eyeball” the shark – at least 4m long – as it came close enough to touch.

“He veered off, then he did a U-turn 10m away from me.

“I’m on a six foot three inch board. I’m thinking if he’s going to have a go at me he will eat me. But I thought you’re going to have to eat this board first,” Mr Specht said.

The champion surfer and Point Lookout Boardriders Club life member sat motionless on the board as the shark went directly under him, just 1m below, on its second pass.

Fellow surfers believe the same shark was hooked on a drum line off the beach later that day. The drumline “exploded” as the great white managed to free itself.

After spotting between 10 and 15 sharks off Main Beach in the past week, Mr Specht said he and other surfers were taking extra precautions and not surfing alone.

He said it was important to report his encounter just three weeks ago to warn holidaymakers that a dangerous great white shark was in local waters.

Surf Life Saving Queensland Gold Coast services co-ordinator Stuart Hogben, who has been on recent flights by the Westpac helicopter to North Stradbroke Island, supports Mr Specht’s suspicions about the great white being responsible for the attack on the other shark.

Mr Hogben saw several 2-3m sharks about 200-300m offshore along the island’s surf side during a flight last weekend. Other sightings were made off the Gold Coast.

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A MAN on the boat alleged to have left a shark attack victim without assistance said they did everything they could to help the 19-year-old.

In a statement made to the Gladstone water police, the man said “they were sick to the stomachs with concern for the young man’s safety” and “believe they had done everything they could possibly do under the circumstances”.

He told police that one of the family members aboard the 30ft vessel caught sight of the smaller fishing vessel whose occupants were frantically screaming that there had been a shark attack.

The trio of spearfishers asked the skipper on the boat for help, which the man said was immediately provided.

The skipper asked if they had radioed for help and was told that the small fishing vessel’s radio was not in working order.

The spearfishers yelled at the skipper to take the shark attack victim aboard but under the circumstances the skipper thought that it would not be in John Pengelly’s best interests to transfer the heavily bleeding man from one vessel to another as it would cause him unnecessary trauma and potentially make his injuries worse.

The skipper notified the authorities and advised the men to head to Heron Island.

The skipper immediately radioed VMR Gladstone advising them that there had been a shark attack and an emergency helicopter and paramedics were needed on Heron Island.

The man said the skipper remained in contact with authorities until the shark attack victim reached Heron Island and word was received that a helicopter had arrived.

The man said his family, who were on the boat, were distraught to hear that Mr Pengelly had implied they did nothing to help.

He said they were “under a lot of stress and had replayed the situation over and over in their heads and still believe…they did everything they humanly could for a small family on a family fishing outfit”.

“I’m just absolutely distraught,” he told The Observer.

“My dad is a skipper and he is absolutely gut-wrenched that this could happen after everything we did to help.”

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A central Queensland shark attack victim says a nearby charter boat refused to take him for help.

John Pengelly, 18, was spearfishing off the coast east of Rockhampton yesterday morning when a bull shark bit his arm.

He was taken by dingy to Heron Island, then to the Rockhampton Hospital before being flown to Brisbane for specialist treatment.

Mr Pengelly says he could have bled to death.

“After I got hit there was a much bigger and stable boat there that could’ve got me there a lot quicker – unfortunately they refused to help,” he said.

“They did manage to radio into Heron Island, which … did definitely help but we were a bit disappointed they couldn’t get me in quicker.”

Mr Pengelly is now in Brisbane’s Royal Brisbane Hospital and says he harbours no ill feeling toward the shark.

“We’re divers in their waters – if he wanted to eat me he would’ve,” he said.

“It was just an enquiry bite.

“Whether he was confused by the fish’s vibes that were given off or he’d been feeding on scraps getting thrown over the side by fishermen earlier, he was not there to eat me.”

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A spear fisherman says he has no hard feelings towards a bull shark that attacked him as he fished off Queensland’s coast at the weekend.

John Pengelly, 18, from Gladstone, was bitten on his forearm by a three-metre shark after he caught a fish with two friends on Lamont Reef, off Heron Island, on Sunday.

Mr Pengelly said he only caught a glimpse as the shark struck before his friends moved into action to stem the bleeding from the 20cm wound.

He was taken to Heron Island by friends before being flown to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital for surgery and a blood transfusion.

But despite his injuries, the competitive free diver said he couldn’t wait to get back into the ocean.

‘We’re divers in their waters (and) if he wanted to eat me he would have,’ he told reporters at hospital on Monday.

‘It was just an inquiry bite … I’d be out today if I could.’

He said he would be more cautious in the future.

‘But I’ve swam with up to 10 at a time in previous weekends and they’ve never seemed to bother me,’ he said.

His parents said they were still behind their son’s sport despite the attack.

‘He knows the risks,’ his father, Graham Pengelly, said.

‘… This one was a kamikaze (shark) that came out of nowhere and they didn’t even see it coming.

‘It’s always the one that you don’t see that gets you.’

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GOLD Coast surfer Nigel Hughes escaped from a shark attack in known Great White territory near Evans Head with nothing but an injured big toe.

Mr Hughes was bitten by the shark while surfing at Coffee Rock, north of Evans Head, at 7am on Sunday.

The 39-year-old deputy principal of Palm Beach-Currumbin State High School was holidaying in Evans Head with friends and decided to head out with them for an early morning surf.

Just as he was pushing himself up to stand on his board he felt the shark strike.

“I looked back to see if my foot was there,” said Mr Hughes, speaking from the Lismore Base Hospital where he was waiting last night to have surgery on his foot.

The shark sliced through Mr Hughes’ big toe which was left partly hanging from his foot.

After the attack he was able to catch a wave in to the beach.

His friends then helped him walk 200m to a car.

Mr Hughes said he could not tell exactly how much blood he was losing because his friends tightly wrapped his foot in a towel before taking him to hospital.

As he waited for surgery last night he remained remarkably calm for someone who had just been bitten by a shark.

He even said the attack would make the holiday ‘memorable’, and that he would not hesitate to hit the waves again in the future.

“I’ll definitely be getting back in the water,” he said.

Mr Hughes said he did not see the shark so he was not willing to speculate about what type it might have been.

Evans Head man Mick McGilvray said the shark was most likely a bronze whaler or a bull shark.

Both are known man-eaters, but Mr McGilvray said the shark that bit Mr Hughes would have been no bigger than two metres.

Mr McGilvray said the spot where Mr Hughes was surfing had murky water which sharks loved.

“It’s definitely a sharky area,” he said.

Mr McGilvray, who operates a chartered fishing boat, said between five and 10 sharks were caught on that stretch of beach between Evans Head and Broadwater each year.

He said he caught two Great White sharks nearby three years ago.

Another tourist lost his leg to a shark bite while swimming at Evans Head in the late 1980s.

“Mr Hughes was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Mr McGilvray said.

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IT might be tempting to jump in that canal or river to cool off in the summer heat – but do not do so if you are averse to sharks.

Not even ocean nets will save you, with potentially dangerous bull sharks already living on the shore side of them.

That is the advice from Surf Life Saving Queensland Sunshine Coast spokesman Byron Mills, who said bull sharks live in shallower water.

Mr Mills said from now until February the sharks move to rivers and canals to breed.

“They have been seen as far up Maroochy River as Bli Bli,” Mr Mills said.

But before you get your old Jaws tapes out, he said his words were a general warning, not a cause for panic.

“They are found in all rivers and canals which have ocean and fresh water, with open-water access,” he said.

“Bull sharks can adapt to both waters.”

Because the breeding season had started, it was timely to remind residents of the dangers of swimming or throwing a ball into the canal for their dog to chase, Mr Mills said.

“They (bull sharks) can go right up canals and rivers to breed,” he said.

“They move mostly at full moon or high tides, or when it has recently rained, as they prefer murky water.”

Dawn and dusk are also likely times for bull shark activity.

The Coast has not had a fatal shark attack for 50 years, and bull sharks did not have the power in their jaws to remove a human limb, Mr Mills said.

“But they are renowned for multiple biting. They are not very smart and if they bump into something they will bite it to see if it’s food, more than once.”

Therefore, blood loss is more likely than loss of limb.

“If they hit an artery, that’s a problem,” Mr Mills said.

Hammerhead sharks also feature in Coast rivers, especially Noosa River and canals, and were also dangerous, Mr Mills said.

It is thought there is one tiger shark in each five kilometres of water, he added.

His warning came as the state government released figures showing 57 sharks were caught in Sunshine Coast nets in the past year.

Council coastal and canal engineer Denis Shaw said while he had not seen sharks in canals in this time, it was not to say they were not there.

“I handle approvals for pontoons on canals and have been asked about installing fun-slides, but I would not recommend them,” he said.

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Sea rescue patrols are warning boats off the southern tip of South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula after a man was bitten by a shark this morning.

Witnesses say the 24-year-old man was part of a group spearfishing at Second Valley, south of Adelaide.

He sustained bites to his hand and ankle, but is conscious and talking to paramedics.

He was treated at the scene before being taken to a local medical centre at Yankalilla.

SA Ambulance says he is now being transferred to the Flinders Medical Centre.

Witnesses report there have been a number of shark sightings in the area during the past three weeks, including one estimated to have measured nearly six metres.

The shark, which attacked today, is thought to have only been about two metres long.

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A kayaker is lucky to be alive after being attacked by a four-metre great white shark in the ocean off Victoria’s south-west coast.

Rhys Gadsden was out for a morning paddle off Portland on Friday when he says a great white shark appeared from the deep and wrapped its jaws around his sea kayak, leaving giant puncture marks.

The 27-year-old was flipped off the kayak and spent a terrifying 15 minutes in the water by his kayak desperately hoping he would not be eaten alive.

‘‘I grabbed my oars, hit it in the head probably five to six times and it released it,’’ the Portland man told the Nine Network.

‘‘As soon as it released its bite it turned and headbutted me and knocked me over and put me in the water with it.

‘‘It was freaky being in the water, yeah, I didn’t know where it went, I didn’t know if it was going to come back.

‘‘I didn’t know what to do really, I didn’t want to splash around and make it come back.’’

Finally a nearby boat came to his rescue.‘‘It took me a while to calm down, I was shaking for hours after,’’ he said.

‘‘It was big, dark eyes, scary, evil, I never want to do that again.’’

Less than 24 hours after coming face to face with the great white, Mr Gadsden was brave enough to paddle out for a few metres into the water on Saturday for TV cameras.His friends have also nicknamed him ‘‘shark-bait’’.

Local surf life savers have conducted patrols of the harbour since the attack but have not spotted the shark.

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BRITISH diver Matt Bowen today told how he cheated death when a man-eating shark ripped his leg to shreds – by KICKING it with his other free foot.

Matt, 23, was exploring a shipwreck 100 feet below the surface off Western Australia when the terrifying attack happened.

A ten-foot bull shark – one of the world’s most dangerous – clamped its huge jaw on to his left leg.

Matt first thought it was female diving partner Alex McFadyen playing a prank on him until he turned to see the deadly shark staring back.

He frantically kicked out as the ferocious beast clung on to his calf, ripping the muscle and sending blood streaming into the water.

Canadian Alex bravely swam to his aid and also kicked the shark until it released its grip and turned tail.

Alex then grabbed Matt and quickly propelled them both to the surface where they waved to their dive boat to pick them up – fearing the creature would return for a second attack.

Matt, from Warrington, Cheshire, was rushed to a local hospital before being transferred to Perth for specialist treatment.

He underwent a series of skin grafts and was bedridden for two weeks as he recovered.

He then needed a further six weeks of intensive physio before he could walk properly again and has been left with a 10-inch long scar along his calf as a permanent reminder of the attack.

Matt, who was a gas engineer before setting off to travel the world, said: “It was scary but I was in so much shock at the time I barely even felt it to begin with.

“I got my diving qualification while I was in Australia and took the opportunity to dive whenever I could.

“You hear stories of shark attacks all the time, but usually when you see them they swim around for a while and ignore you.

Blood

“My buddy and I used to mess around all the time, grabbing each other by the legs and pretending it was a shark attack.

“So when I felt a tug on my leg, I initially thought it was her. It wasn’t really painful but it suddenly got a lot more vigorous and violent.

“I turned round to see what was going on and there was this three metre shark clinging on to me.

“I started kicking it as hard as I could to free my leg. I was aiming for the head but doing whatever I could to get it away from me.

“It would have gone for me again, but luckily I got my flippers in the way.

“My buddy pulled me away, kicking the shark at the same time.

“Eventually it turned round and swam away and we managed to get up to the surface.

“We waved to the dinghy to pick us up while Alex looked through the cloud of blood beneath us to see whether the shark was coming back.

“When I looked at my leg, all I could see was this bloody mess. Instead of a calf, all I could see was a hunk of shredded tissue and blood.

“The shock and adrenaline soon wore off and I was in a world of pain and slipping in and out of consciousness for a while.”

Despite his near-death experience Matt says he still plans to dive.

He added: “It definitely hasn’t put me off sharks or going in the sea.

“I’ve been told that the shark was a bull shark. They are aggressive but I now know they often hide their babies in wrecks, like the one where I was diving.

“That is probably why this one attacked me, to protect her babies from what she thought was a threat.”

Matt is now working at a surf school on the east coast of Australia and plans to visit New Zealand, Thailand and Canada before returning home.

He said: “After the attack I waited until I was a bit better before I phoned my mum.

“There was a lot of screaming of course. She was really worried and wanted me to come home, but I told her I would rather recover on a sunny beach and she understood.”

Bull sharks – Carcharhinus leucas in Latin – are one of the top four most dangerous shark species in the world.

They are unpredictable and aggressive and are normally found in shallow water which means they are responsible for the majority of shark attacks on humans that take place near the shore.

In India, bull sharks even cruise up the River Ganges where they have killed and attacked a large number of people.

A few weeks after the attack Matt bumped into Neighbours actor Alan Fletcher during a night out in Sydney and had his photo taken with him.

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Related Links

• Shark warning at Kommetjie
• Lifeguard killed in shark attack
• Suspected shark attack in KZN
• Shark bites SA angling coach
• Teen dies after shark attack

George – A 25-year-old man who was attacked by a shark while surfing at Glentana Bay has died, the National Sea Rescue Institute said on Saturday.

“The victim was airlifted to a hospital in George in a critical condition where he was later declared dead after all efforts to save him were exhausted,” NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said.

The man had been surfing with a friend at the bay between Glentana and Outeniqua, near Mossel Bay when the attack happened just after 15:30 on Saturday.

His friend brought him to shore.

Right leg bitten off

When emergency personnel arrived at the scene, they found the man had already had his right leg amputated below the knee from a shark bite.

Paramedics and other emergency workers carried out resuscitation efforts.

The man was then taken to the George provincial hospital where he died.

“The family has been informed and are in close contact with the authorities.”

It is not yet known what species of shark was involved in the incident.

“The NSRI and the emergency services have expressed our deepest sympathies to the family of the victim.”