A shark knocked a surfer into the water in Australia today.
Roie was enjoying the waves at North Cronulla Beach, in Southern Sydney around 11am, when he felt something pulling on his knee grip and his board began sinking.
When he looked down he saw a silhouette under his board and quickly realized it was a shark.
He told Seven News “I saw the silhouette of the shark and he just spun back around under my legs. He was under my legs and then knocked me off my board.”
The local surfer was not injured during the incident, though his board did have damage from the ‘bump’.
Brad Whittaker, of the Sutherland Shire Council, confirmed a monitor from the North Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club reported seeing a ‘splash and a fin’ from a shark lookout tower at the time of Mr. Roie’s encounter.
Due to the confirmation of a secondary sighting, local life savers ordered everyone out of the water.
Jet skis and a helicopter were dispatched to search for the unidentified species of shark.
The beaches have been closed for 24 hours and life guards will access the situation tomorrow.
Australia has begun heavily investing in shark detection methods. Including the use of drones, EC0 shark barriers, sonar tracking and the tagging of sharks.
The location has been marked on the 2016 shark attack bites tracking map.
