A kayaker was thrown into the air by a great white shark off the coast of South Australia.
Sarah William was kayaking near her family, who were fishing for squid, off Normanville October 22.
An estimated 14-foot (4.5m) great white shark attacked the 15-year-old‘s kayak from underneath knocking Williams and her kayak into the air.
“It was like a car had hit her out of the water and then the kayak was launched, and then she was launched out of it into the water,” Sarah’s brother Mitchell Williams told ABC news.
She was able to climb back on top of the kayak as the shark latched onto the back of the kayak.
“If anything changed she would have lost legs or her life … as he [the shark] made his second approach and that’s when he locked onto the back maybe 10 centimetres away from her legs and aggressively shook the kayak,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell and his father Chris quickly sped to Sarah’s aid in their tin fishing boat.
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“We made our approach and sort of run the boat into the shark and the kayak and then pulled Sarah … over the shark to get her out of the water,” Mitchell said.
They were able to pull the high school student, who had a few scratches and bruises from the water.
“What scared me the most was the velocity of how that shark attacked, something totally unprovoked,” Chris Williams said.
“Unfortunately this shark will probably kill someone before they do something.”
Finding the shark that was involved in the incident would be extremely tough to near impossible.
It is possible that the shark involved may have already left the area, as the species has been known to swim long distances in search of food.
In addition, the shark may have actually been drawn to the area by the activates of the fisherman.
There have been a total of 85* shark attack bites in 2017, 5 of which were fatal*; 43 were reported in the US, with 29 occurring in Florida** and two in Hawaii. Twelve have been reported in Australia, one of which was fatal. Five unconfirmed worldwide and not included in the total count.
All locations have been marked on the 2017 Shark Attack Bites Tracking Map.
*Two may be scavenge. **One report may have been outside of Florida waters
