There was one at wedge a couple years ago. A well known seabreeze members son copped a chomping but lived to tell the tale
Used to worry about it - but lot more chance of getting cleaned on the road up by some drunk or drugged driver on the way to and from your perfect kitesurfing location!! When ur times up - its up !! - enjoy your kiting, every windy moment of it!!
Line ups been pretty empty lately around home, I'm sure its because of the recent shark related media.
But kiting number have increased if anything around home...
Numbers point to people being more comfortable on a kite than sitting in the lineup surfing I guess
I know of one (sort of). about 3 years ago I got hit from below by a shark about 2m in length on the east coast of NSW. I was tacking hard upwind so the impact sent my board into the air, flipping downwind, and *plop* left me upwind (about 10m away) in the water. The shark turned towards the board in the air and disappeared back under the water. I body dragged back to the board *oh sh!t is it coming back?!* I rode into the beach, thinking 'any moment now!' but made it back to the beach *yewww* and proceeded to go change my boardies.
I figure I have shark immunity now, on account of it being a one-in-a-lifetime event, so i'm not afraid
There was one I know of, yet I doubt most people in here were kiting at that point in time to know about it. Dano See (now BWS designer) was kiting at the Pass in Byron Bay and a shark latched onto his leg, he had to go into the beach with it still attached to get it off. Luckily he was wearing a knee brace on that leg at the time.
Never mind the sharks, at my local i've seen 2 dugites, 4ft+ in the last 2 weeks and one bigger snake 6ft+ that looked like a tiger snake but i'm not sure
I find myself a bit more worried now. I used to throw my bag and towel in the bushes at the base of the dunes but now they come a few metres onto the sand. I'm a bit scared of them and im sure soon enough someone will be attacked.
I've walked hundreds of kms in the dunes and coastal bushland in the past 12months and havent seen any so maybe time for a cull!! Joe public complains about killing a protected shark but i bet they wouldnt think twice about bringing a shovel down on a protected snake.
Ezza, is it possible you hit the shark rather than the other way around?
I used to think sharks were quite cautious about what they attack, spending considerable time observing before going in, and therefore a riding kiteboarder would not be a target.
Sounds like your contact, whether initiated by you or it, was enough to make it think twice about coming back for seconds, luckily.
Well, with all the new euros in town I was hoping for some white pointers.. But no one took their top off
Came pretty close to a GWS in Gero this time last year. About 200m off the beach. Was massive. At first I thought it was a killer whale. Scared the living **** out of me. It didn't change its course or anything thought. I don't think it even knew I was there....Brown squid cloud