Men use paddle to scare 'shark' after it punctures inflatable kayak

men scare away 'shark' after it bursts their canoe

Two men survived a suspected shark attack by scaring it away with a paddle after it attacked their inflatable kayak.

Andrej Kultan and Steve Hopkins were kayaking near Castle Rock, Dunsborough in Western Australia when the shark punctured their boat on Saturday.

According to AAP, the Department of Fisheries said it could not determine what caused the damage after inspecting pictured of the deflated canoe.

Kultan and Hopkins said the animal's teeth punctured two of the three air chambers keeping the kayak afloat.

Speaking to ABC, they said they were knocked into the water with the animal.

"It was pretty close, it was right next to me," Mr Hopkins said.

"I had a paddle in my hand, luckily."

Manager of the shark response unit, Lisa Clack, told ABC: "It does look like a series of punctures in an arc, giving the impression of a bite."

The beach where the men were attacked was closed and swimmers were advised to take additional caution.

Last week, it was reported that a surfer who lost both hands in a shark attack in Western Australia swam 100 metres to shore with using just one arm.

Sean Pollard, 23, was surfing at Wylie Bay when the predator, believed to be a great white shark, attacked him.

Witness Robbie, who was planning to give his nephew a surfing lesson at the beach, told 6PR radio: "He's obviously swum about 100m with those injuries ... it was probably the bravest thing I've ever seen."

Two men pulled him out of the water and an off-duty paramedic at the beach helped stem the bleeding. Robbie added that Mr Pollard may have died if the paramedic hadn't come to his aid.

"He was really unlucky but he was really lucky to have had the help he had when he got to the beach by those three people - the two guys that pulled him out and then helped dress his wounds, and the paramedic on the beach, you couldn't give her enough props really," he said.