A bodyboarder came dangerously close to being attacked by a shark in Western Australia Sunday, but luckily, it was his board that bore the brunt of the Great White’s bite.
Paul Goff was enjoying a bodyboarding session with some friends in Bunbury Sunday morning when he was knocked off his board by a large shark.
At the time, Goff wasn’t sure what had shoved him from his board, until he spotted the shark. “It went forward towards the board and that's when I saw the gills and realized it was a shark." he said.
“I was only in two meters of water,” Goff told Channel 7. “I saw nothing before I got hit.”
"I was 30 meters out, knowing that I was the only one still in the water and not knowing where the shark was," he said. "I wasn't sure I was going to make it through the white wash."
Goff swam to shore, where he was treated for shock.
Martin Lottering witnessed the close call from the beach."I spent some time watching the guys in the water on their bodyboards, and eventually I noticed a swirling and thrashing in the water next to one of the guys," he told WA Today.
"The next moment I saw the shark's head come up out the water, and [it] looked like it was trying to grab one of the bodyboardersand at the same time knocked him off the board.”
“I could see the shark's dorsal fin next to the board, and then I realized how big he was. His dorsal fin looked about half the size of the bodyboard.” he added.
The shark was chased away by three dolphins.
Surfers were ordered out of the water and the beaches in Bunbury were closed for most of the day.
Surf Life Saving WA said the creature was a great white shark and at least four meters long.
Goff, though, won’t let his near death experience keep him out of the water. “I've been out this afternoon" he told ABC.