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Pretoria paddler brought safely to shore after shark takes bite out of surf-ski

Paddler safely on shore after shark takes bite out of surf-ski in Plett Picture: Supplied
Paddler safely on shore after shark takes bite out of surf-ski in Plett Picture: Supplied

A Pretoria man told his rescuers of being knocked of his surf-ski by what was thought to be a four-metre great white shark on Monday morning.

The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said its Plettenberg Bay duty crew received “a request for assistance from three paddlers… paddling behind the breaker line off-shore of Keurbooms Lagoon” just after 7am.

Station commander Marc Rodgers said that when they arrived at the scene‚ the three surf-skis were “rafted together with the three paddlers paddling… gently towards the shoreline”.

“One of the surf-skis was found to be damaged from a shark bite‚” he said‚ adding that all three were taken aboard the NSRI’s rescue craft‚ brought to shore without incident and required no further assistance.

Rodgers said that Ben Swart‚ 55‚ from Pretoria‚ told NSRI “that he and his two friends‚ Nick Bester and Ronald Pronk‚ regular paddlers on holiday in Plettenberg Bay‚ were paddling from Central Beach to Keurbooms on their three surf-skis about 400m off-shore‚ well behind the back-line”.

 “Without warning he felt a hard bump from underneath his surf-ski — behind the seat of the surf-ski — and he was thrown into the air and he landed in the water.

“Ben was able to swim back to his damaged surf-ski which still had a fair amount of buoyancy‚ he lay down on the surf-ski while his two friends rafted their surf-skis alongside the damaged surf-ski and they began gently paddling towards the shore while calling NSRI Plettenberg Bay‚ raising the alarm and requesting assistance‚” Rodgers explained.

Swart said he did not see that shark again‚ but Bester reportedly saw it “about 30 seconds after the incident in the water nearby but no further sightings of the shark were made after that”.

“Photos of the surf-ski‚ measurements and an account of the incident will be sent to research authorities for investigation to determine the size and the species of the shark and as part of ongoing shark incident‚ shark encounter research‚” Rodgers said.

He added that NSRI coast watchers “have noted shark sightings along the Plettenberg coastline following this incident today and caution is advised”. – TMG Digital

 

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