A surfer recalled the moment he was surrounded by a huge white shark near a popular tourist beach weeks before the start of summer.
Kye Wilkinson, 23, felt an unsettling push from the depths during an afternoon surf at Coffs Harbor’s Shelly Beach on the New South Wales north coast last week.
He had no idea that the 3 to 4 m long shark was lurking below him until suddenly the predator swam right under him.
‘I had paddled and was sitting on my board for about two or three minutes when I felt something hit the bottom of my board; “I looked below me and saw a big black shadow,” Wilkinson said. news.com.au.
“I was paralyzed for a second, not really knowing which way to go.”
Wilkinson then regained his composure and turned on his GoPro to capture the monster shark as it headed towards a larger group of surfers in the nearby water to warn them of the danger ahead.
“It went around and around underneath me as I paddled,” he previously said. Nine.
The surfers stuck together, appearing larger to the shark, before running towards the shore.
A 4 to 5 meter long great white shark gave surfers the scare of their lives near a Coffs Harbor beach
“I’m sitting there discussing it (when) it came back a third time.”
He is heard in GoPro footage remembering their close encounter.
“Shit,” one of the surfers responded.
‘Stay together boys, stay together, don’t row!’ another surfer shouted.
The shark stayed around the group for quite some time before they were able to make a wild dash for the shore.
It’s not the first time Wilkinson has encountered a great white shark while surfing.
Kye Wilkinson, 23, felt the shark before seeing it as he swam under his surfboard.
‘You see them from time to time, but they usually take off pretty quickly. “I’ve never had one this close and seeing it going around three times was very scary,” he said a week after the incident.
Wilkinson was grateful for the camaraderie of the other surfers during the ordeal.
The surfers crowded the shore and reviewed Mr. Wilkinson’s GoPro video.
“We didn’t realize how big it was until we saw it in the pictures,” he said.