Australian fights off great white shark

dpa German Press Agency Published: Monday October 15, 2007

Sydney- An Australian fought off a 2.5-metre great white
shark that knocked her off her surf ski at the popular east coast
tourist town of Byron Bay, police said Monday.
The 52-year-old local climbed back aboard her craft and paddled to
shore despite a severely gashed arm. The woman was about 150 metres
offshore and on a morning paddle with her husband when the shark
attacked.

"We've got vessels in the area and the shark has been chased out
to sea, to deeper waters," lifeguard Stephen Leahy told Australia's
AAP news agency. "It appears to be unusual that a shark would menace
people like this."

The attack was the second in Australia in two days. A 31-year-old
Brisbane man was bitten by a bronze whaler shark at the weekend at
Holmes Reef near Cairns in far-north Queensland. He sustained a
30-centimetre tear to his calf.

In January an abalone diver in New South Wales survived an attack
by a 3-metre great white by poking it in the eye. The 41-year-old was
almost swallowed but managed to get a hand free as the shark clamped
its jaws round his head and shoulders.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

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