An Australian surfer narrowly escaped a shark encounter this week. Dale Kittow, 37, was surfing Cheynes Beach in Western Australia, when a shark charged him and took a bite out of his board.
The attack happened just before 4 p.m., Wednesday. As Kittow told ABC News Australia, it started when he paddled over a wave and saw the shark around 30 feet away. The animal, which he believes to be a nine-foot-long bronze whaler, then began to circle him. Even before the shark charged him, he knew he was in for trouble. “When it started heading towards us, I knew it was going to have a bit of a crack,” he told ABC.
“I jumped off the back of my board and put it sort of in between me and the shark,” he recounted to 9 News Australia. “The shark bit into the board and we got tangled in my leg rope and went under and got dragged for a bit. I hit it a few times.”
After the encounter, a rattled Kittow gathered his board and exited the water. “I didn’t swim off, I didn’t want to splash too much. I got back on my board and caught the next wave in,” he told ABC.
His board is now being sent to authorities, who will swab test the bite and confirm the species.
