Dean Norburn had quite the surprise while surfing Tuesday at Bondi Beach.
Sharing a wave with a friend can be fun. But a Party Wave with a shark? Not so much.
On Tuesday morning, Dean Norburn was out for a surf at Australia’s Bondi Beach when an unexpected creature attempted to catch a tandem wave with him. A small shark launched itself out of the water, landing in the middle of his board.
“There was a bit of a light rip so I was paddling in,” Norburn told The Sydney Morning Herald. As I was paddling in a little bit, I leant on my board on my hands on the rails. The next thing you know, something has brushed by me and has landed on my board.”
Norburn estimated the small shark was about 1.2 meters (4 feet) in length. It landed just inches away from his face. And as soon as it showed up, it was gone within seconds. Norburn wasn’t sure what type of shark it was and neither was his friend who was out surfing with him and saw the shark swim under his board.
“Mate, I lost about 100 heartbeats I reckon in that split second, and got a few more grey hairs,” he said.
Although nobody was hurt, Bondi Lifeguards cleared the water from all swimmers and surfers shortly after the incident. In a Facebook post, the lifeguards wrote:
We had a small shark (6 foot) jump on a local surfers board this morning then swim off under another surfer. The man was not injured. Lifeguards spoke to both men and cleared the water afterwards. Will be a very memorable and surf for both guys.
Norburn certainly won’t be forgetting the incident anytime soon. However, he said it’s not going to deter him from going back out surfing.
