British surfer fights off six-foot shark in Australia with his surf board
Tiger shark, stock image. Rex
A British surfer, who found himself in a feeding frenzy involving up to 16 sharks, has described how he used his board to fend off a six-foot predator in Australia.
The Daily Telegraph reports that 33-year-old Richard Wands used his surfing board to repeatedly smash a tiger shark's face before paddling ashore at South Trigg beach in Western Australia.
The engineer from Scotland was around 100 feet offshore when one of the sharks, which had been feeding off a dolphin carcass, started to circle his board and began to attack.
'It was a heart-stopping moment and was the meanest, nastiest, most frightening thing ever,' he said.
'I was basically trying to follow it as it circled me, then it came round and it rammed me.
'I had to do something or I was going to lose an arm or a leg I saw it turn and it came straight for me, in a dead straight line, undeviating, and it genuinely felt like a true final approach I could virtually touch this thing – [it] was literally on me. I was trying to run to get it, to let it know I wasn't food. I saw its whole face right in front of me.'
Mr Wands hit the shark and yelled for help as he desperately paddled to shore.
'I speared the board into the water to try and deter it,' he said.
'That seemed to work but it came back again so I used the board again and it moved away.'
The Daily Mail reports that a wave helped him escape the shark attack.
'Luckily enough a wave happened to pitch up at the most convenient moment ever and I just belly-flopped onto it and just ran it in on my front. This was definitely a threat, I was utterly convinced.'
He admitted that the incident has put him off surfing and said: 'Next time, I may not be so lucky.'
Mr Wands moved to Australia eight months ago after growing up in Perth, Scotland.
On Thursday it was reported that beaches on Australia's West Coast were closed when tiger sharks were spotted feeding off a dolphin carcass just metres from the shore.
Tiger sharks are considered the second most dangerous species of shark to humans after the great white.
Related articles
Video: Beaches closed as tiger sharks feed off dolphin carcass just metres from shore
15 injured as 33-ton shark tank bursts in shopping centreIncredible underwater photos: sharks under threat
