A New Zealand surfer defended himself by punching the great white shark in the eye when it attacked him Feb. 22.
Nick Minogue, 60, was hit by a 9-foot-long shark while surfing off Pauanui Beach around 11:30 a.m. A German man was surfing near him during the attack.
“I was quite a long way out, there was quite a solid swell running, I was just paddling along and got hit on the side of my elbow and forearm,” Minogue told The NZ Herald.
“By the time I realised what was going on, its teeth were definitely latched on to the front section of the board.”
The Aucklander remembered that shark snouts are sensitive, so he decided to scream and start punching, although he had several small lacerations on his arm.
“It was a grey shark with a white bottom, probably a great white. It was a big head and jaw. I kind of sat up in shock and decided to hit it. That was the only thing to do.
“So, I actually shouted at it ‘f***off,’ and went to punch it in the eye and missed.
“Then I pulled my fist back and shouted ‘f*** off’ again and got it right smack-bang in the eye. It’s quite a big eye, about three knuckles across, and its eye kind of looked up and rolled up.
“In between the two punches it crunched down a bit more on the board and then disengaged its teeth, got its jaws off, and then I got brushed by the dorsal fin and the tail fin, and swam off.”
Minogue began paddling in as did the German who heard the screams.
The two paddled in as fast as they could, and even though Minogue felt something bump his board, the two made it back to the beach.
Once he was on land, Minogue pulled off his thick wetsuit and assessed the damage.
“There was blood dripping out the sleeve of my wetsuit. Thankfully it wasn’t too deep. Two teeth put holes in my wetsuit, but only one punctured the skin. I’ve still got an arm and fingers; it could have been a lot worse,” he says.
“I actually have a boys surfing trip planned to Dunedin later next week, so will have to take another board.”
Another surfer had a similar encounter in 2018.
Andrew Brough was hitting the waves at Baylys Beach near Dargville in the Northland Region Oct. 19 when he was hit by a white shark.
The 25-year-old had several lacerations on his hand and elbow, but was able to paddle back to shore.
There have been 9 shark attack bites this year. All locations have been marked on the 2020 Shark Attack Map.
