Cabarita Beach, a popular destination on the north coast of Australia's New South Wales, witnessed a surfer's board being torn in two by a Great White Shark on Monday. A five-metre-long Great White was soon caught and released not far from the beach, Australian media reports confirmed. Cabarita Beach was closed for the day as a safety measure.
The surfer was lucky to have escaped the incident unharmed, NSW authorities later confirmed. According to reports, there were several beachgoers at the location when a surfer emerged from the tides with a board that was shattered into two. Viral photos on the internet showed a large chunk of the board had been bitten off by the Great White. An eyewitness told Australian media that pieces of the board were scattered everywhere. The man recollected that the board "exploded," adding that he saw two pieces floating in opposite directions.
Confirming the development, the Surf Life Saving NSW said in a statement, “Just after 8 am this morning (Monday 18 August) the Surf Life Saving NSW State Operations Centre (SOC) was alerted to an incident at the unpatrolled Cabarita Beach which was called in through Triple 0... The surfer is unharmed. Australian Lifeguard Service lifeguards were tasked and immediately worked with Council to close the beach and put up signage to warn the public not to enter the water.”
While the incident was reported around 8 am, the shark was caught a couple of hours later from a smart drum line at Cabarita Beach and released, according to a report by ABC AU. Sharks that are thus released reportedly choose to leave the area for several months before eventually returning to their natural migratory route.
Meanwhile, News.com.au identified the man involved in the incident as Brad Ross. According to officials who later interviewed Ross, he had the encounter with the shark at a region with waist-deep water. Though the beast was a giant, he didn't even see it.
