Bob Smith was surfing in Georra, New South Wales Australia when after catching a wave he hoped in the water and was bitten by a shark. Magnet reports the water was murky and the sky was gray. This mixed with wave action could easily confuse a shark into thinking a leg was another type of prey. Mr. Smith had about 15 holes in his foot and ankle.
After the incident he said “Since Sunday I spoke to a guy who said there were reports of bronze whalers down the coast, nipping people.” As for his surfing career he added. “I think I’ll be a bit more choosy about going out when it looks so sharky,” he said.
Bronze Whalers also known as Copper sharks attack humans infrequently, but the species places sixth in the number of unprovoked attacks on people. During the tracking period through 2013, the University of Florida attributed 20 attacks to the species.(In comparison, great white sharks topped the list, with 279 attacks.) Though large and powerful, the copper shark is not particularly aggressive towards humans unless in the presence of food. Copper Sharks have been known to harass and attack spear fishers in an attempt to steal catches. Copper sharks have bitten several swimmers in Australia and New Zealand, where the species is common. (The species is commonly called bronze whalers in this part of the world.)
Fatal attacks attributed to the copper shark (bronze whaler) include the 2014 death of a swimmer in Tathra, New South Wales, Australia, and the 1976 death of a swimmer in Te Kaha, New Zealand. Three out of ten shark attacks in New Zealand are attributed to Copper sharks. Witnesses also attributed a fatal attack on September 2011 in Bunker Bay, Western Australia to a copper shark.
One problem with counting attacks on humans is that the copper shark is so similar to other requiem sharks. Victims and witnesses are unlikely to correctly identify which type of genus Carcharhinus shark is responsible for the attack. Experts trying to confirm shark attacks by species warn that their statistics under count the number of attacks by requiem sharks like the copper.
