The normally docile carpet shark.
A 60 year old woman was recovering in hospital today after being attacked by a shark in the Whitsundays.
The woman from Sydney had just migrated to Airlie Beach months earlier and was snorkelling with her husband and four other people from a sailing yacht off Dent Island.
Her husband watched in horror as she was dragged underwater by the 2 metre shark. It is not clear how she managed to break free from the shark’s grip, but she suffered severe lacerations to her buttocks and thighs and was rescued by an RACQ rescue helicopter.
She was initially taken to Hamilton Island where she was later transferred to Mackay Base Hospital for treatment. A spokesman from the hospital stated that she had lost several litres of blood and was still in a critical condition after undergoing emergency surgery.
The CQ spokesman went on to say that a shark attack in that area was extremely rare and that perhaps the woman was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
However there was another shark attack on Thursday on a Sydney beach when Paul Welsh, 46, was attacked by a carpet shark or wobbegong. Mr Welsh was only in around a metre of water when the shark bit his leg causing severe gashing wounds.
Mr Welsh was encouraging his son in the water when the shark attacked, he grabbed hold of a rock as the shark tried to drag him further out into the sea until the shark eventually released its grip. At the time Mr Welsh and witnesses identified the shark as a great white, but it was later identified by a tooth fragment, as a normally docile carpet shark.
At the time the New South Wales Industries Minister Steve Whan actually seemed to blame the man for the attack, saying it was possible that he stood on the shark causing it to attack. The Sydney Morning Herald stated that the shark was more than likely to have been just as traumatised by the ordeal – somehow I doubt that, but we’ll go with it!
Sharks attacks off the coast of Australia do happen but they are very rare. Experts believe that sharks may wrongly identify surfers as seals due to the shape of their boards, or they could be trod on in shallow water leading to a defence attack by the shark. In the past 50 years there have only been 61 human deaths in Australian waters from shark attacks. Roughly one a year then – no worries as the Aussies say!
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