iStockphoto / Noah Zastrow
A surfer in Western Australia is lucky to have all of his limbs intact today after being attacked by a 10-foot bronze whaler shark while out catching waves. One expert said Dale Kittow of Albany, Western Australia handled the situation perfectly by keeping all of his limbs out of the water and fighting back when he could but his story is truly wild.
The shark attack occurred off Cheynes Beach which is a spot that truly feels like it is at the ends of the earth. It is hundreds of miles from the nearest major city and had this shark attack gone sideways it’s not an ideal location to seek out immediate medical attention.
In true laidback Australian fashion, Dale Kittow told 9 News Australia “I was pretty rattled at the time but I’m good now” while recalling punching the shark to fight it off. He says that at one point he got tied up in the leash attached to his surfboard and dragged under. But ultimately he was able to make it back to land safely even after the shark had bitten a huge chunk out of his board.
He first spotted the shark when it was around 30 feet away. The massive bronze whaler shark then turned on a time and wanted all the smoke. He said “it just charged at me and I had a tangle with i… it was through the roof.”
It was at this point that thinking fast might’ve save him an arm or a leg. Dale Kittow says “when it started heading towards us, I knew it was going to have a bit of a crack, so I swung my board around and it took a bite out of the back. I jumped off the back of the surfboard.”
iStockphoto / RugliG
What’s wild is that forevermore this man will be out in the pubs of Western Australia talking about the time he fought off a 10-foot shark with his bare hands. People will call him a liar and the man has receipts. He can pull up that video above, show pictures of his surfboard missing a chunk where it was bitten off, and that’s really not a story that can ever be topped at the pub.
To confirm that it was in fact a bronze whaler shark scientists have taken samples from his surfboard where it was bitten during the shark attack. But the massive specimen that was spotted moments later suggests that it was a bronze whaler aka ‘copper shark.’