Two surfers, one in Oregon and second in South Australia, are recovering from shark bites sustained on Dec. 6..
In South Australia, Dion Lynch was surfing off D’Estrees Bay at Kangaroo Island in a spot known as the sewers. Before 1:30 p.m. Lynch was bitten by a great white shark and sustained serious lacerations to his back, buttocks and thigh.
“I was sitting on my board when I felt a hit on my left side,” he said in a statement.” It bit me around my back, buttock and elbow and took a chunk out of my board.”
The 29-year-old local tradesman was still on his board and paddled to shore, where he sought help from a member of the public. As he was being driven toward the hospital, paramedics met the car and transported him to the hospital in Kingscote before he was airlifted to Adelaide for treatment.
Members of the department of Fisheries and police officers erected warning signs around D’Estrees Bay beach and advised residents from using the waters.
On the same day In the United States a surfer was bitten on his lower leg by a shark.
Nearly 10,00 miles away, off the coast of Oregon in the United States, a shark bit a surfer onthe lower left leg.
Cole Herrington, 20, was surfing off Seaside in a popular spot called the Cover, in South Seaside near Tillamook Head at 3:20 p.m. when a shark grabbed his foot.
“I was sitting in the middle of my board waiting for a wave,” Herrington told Tracking Sharks. “It hit me from the back and from what I hear came out of the water and spun around.”
He was able to make it back to shore where an off-duty Seaside lifeguard applied a field tourniquet and was placed on a large tree while awaiting rescue personnel.
Herrington was taken to the trauma unit of the local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
He sustained a deep gash to his left lower calf and left upper foot. Based on the wound pattern and teeth impressions left in the board, he was most likely struck by a great white shark.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with Herrington’s medical expenses.
Nine years ago to the day, another surfer was bitten by a shark in the same area.
On Dec. 7, 2011 a surfer was bitten by a shark in the same area. The unidentified woman was surfing around 9 a.m. when she was bitten. A stand-up paddleboarder and other surfers assisted her to shore where she was taken to a hospital in Portland.
In 2019 a surfer said a shark grabbed his board.
On March 15, 2019, Nathan Holstedt,33, said a shark grabbed his board as he was waiting for a wave off Cape Kiwanda. After being knocked in the water, he used his board to tommyhawk the shark. Holstedt’s board was damaged in several spots, but he was physically unharmed.
A more serious incident occurred in 2016.
A more serious incident occurred in October 2016. Joseph Tanner, 29, was surfing at Ecola State Park, near Indian Beach Trail when he was bitten by a white shark. He sustained bite wounds to his upper and lower thigh by what he described as a medium-big great white. Tanner was flown to a Portland Hospital for treatment and later recovered from the incident.
.Both recent incidents have been marked on the 2020 Shark Attack Map.
