The Basin (just North of Mona Vale Beach) closed, and Paul and wife take stock for minute.
Local 46-yar-old Mona Vale surfer Paul Welsh was happily pushing his nine-year-old son onto a few waves this morning at Mona Vale Basin when a shark latched onto his left calf. Paul explained to witnesses on the beach after that the shark attempted to drag him further out to sea while gnawing at his lower leg. He then literally grabbed onto some rocks and yanked himself up and out of the water against the will of the determined shark. Saying, “I grabbed on to the pinnacle of a rock and held on as it tried to drag me out… and I won.”
Paul’s wound’s just minutes after the attack.
Police are reporting the shark to be around 4 foot (or 1.2 meters) in length, though Paul reported to the Manly Daily (local paper) it was more like two meters and definitely a great white. In remarkable spirits after the incident, Paul was having a laugh with his son (in shock perhaps?) when approached by shark expert and Surfwatch Australia’s director Michael Brown who happened to be in the water swimming with his son at the time and witnessed the attack. Describing the hit from the shark as extremely hard. With Paul being threon into the air. Michael who is apparently filming a documentary on sharks in the the area (can you believe it?) has long been an advocate of having airborne surveillance on Sydney’s beaches to track sharks and warn swimmers and surfers – but is concerned even if a tender was accepted for such an undertaking governments would suppress vital information. Information like, sightings of massive sharks feeding near swimmers etc For example. Michael saw the tail of the shark and examined Paul’s bite wounds and decreed it to be, “a great white, either a juvenile or adolescent.” He also felt the nature of the attack 9up and under with force) was the hallmarks of the great whites signature attack style. Michael also offered the group a look at a photo on his phone of a huge ten-foot great white he photographed off Palm Beach just a week prior. Despite the ordeal reports are that Paul should be fine and released from hospital today. Fortunatley his wife was on hand to drive him to Mona Vale hospital for the stitch up. All the best of luck Paul – and the rest of us who surf the Northern Beaches.
Paul and his wife head to hospital while their young bloke has a laugh about his school day ahead.
Note: Paul has made an exclusive deal with channel Nine to tell his full story, stay tuned.
By Col B
Many thanks to Matt ‘everywhere-man’ Jones for the photos.
