Sharks Sharks Sharks

Went surfing yesterday down to Tallows Beach, Byron Bay. Everywhere else in Byron was completely flat and blown out but there were outstanding little lefthanders to be had from Cosy Corner down. However at one point during the day an Ambulence and two police cars screamed down the beach to the far end of Cosy Corner. I had no idea what they were doing and after a while lost interest in the commotion and went back in the water to catch a few more waves.

Today we went back to the same spot but before we hit the water Ursula, a friend of mine met us and told us there was a shark attack yesterday just off the rocks north of Cosy Corner. The shark had taken a chunk out of a spear fishermans leg. The man had speared one fish and was about to go for another whent the shark struck. It mustn't have liked the taste of neoprane rubber for from what we heard the attack was not fatal. Still to think that an attack had happened just 500 meters from where I was surfing was a little sobering. I didn't see any sharks yesterday myself but at one point there was a very large dark round shadow sitting on the bottom not far from my board. It then moved off at a reasonable speed in towards the beach. I guess it must have been a large sting ray. Harmless things unless you step on it's tail whereupon it will give you a nasty little puncture wound.

Shark attacks wounds Australia fisherman

The Associated Press 8/4/2004, 3:43 a.m. ET
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — A shark attacked a spear fisherman who was hauling in a fish Wednesday and the man was sent to the hospital with a bite wound to his leg, an ambulance spokesman said.
The man, whose identity was not released, was in stable condition in Byron Bay Hospital with minor puncture wounds, the ambulance spokesman, speaking on usual condition of anonymity.
The type of shark that attacked the man was not immediately known.
Last month, a shark or sharks — a great white and possibly also a bronze whaler, authorities believe — attacked and killed a surfer off Australia's west coast, the first fatal shark attack in Australian waters in nearly a year.
Byron Bay is a popular coastal town about 435 miles north of Sydney.

Obviously the authories did not think the event serious enough to close the beach or warn anybody else on the beach there was a shark about. Everything was back to normal the next day. I even saw two spearfishermen heading off to the exact location the attack had happened. I went surfing as well and gave little heed to the past event.