‘This is how I’ll die...’ terror of diver chased for five miles by 13ft shark
A DIVER who was trailed by a 13ft shark as he swam almost five miles to shore said yesterday: “I thought, this is it, this is how I’m going to die.”
Briton John Craig, 34, had gone on an underwater spearfishing trip with a friend off the coast at Shark Bay, Western Australia. When he surfaced he realised his pal and their boat had vanished.
After initially “screaming, splashing and panicking” he looked down and saw an enormous tiger shark.
“It was easily the biggest tiger shark I’ve been in the water with,” he said.
“And that’s saying something as I’ve worked as a dive instructor for over 10 years.”
Another shark – a large sandbar whaler – was circling a few metres further away.
John who moved to Australia from Washington, Tyne and Wear, two years ago said: “They were trying to work out whether I was on the menu. I thought, I have to get out of here, and started swimming for shore.”
According to the International Shark Attack File, the tiger shark ranks second behind the great white for fatal shark bite incidents.
John said: “The tiger shark began following me and I have to admit that at this point I thought I was gone.
“Four nautical miles out to sea with a huge tiger shark following, I thought, this is it, this is how I’m going to die.
“The shark would disappear into the gloom then suddenly reappear behind me, just keeping pace behind my fins. Every time I looked back I could see its huge head pointed at me.
“Each time it approached I used my spear gun to block its path. I didn’t want to upset it with a prod from the spear and make a bad situation worse.
“It swam on the same path as me towards the shore. Then in a moment it banked and disappeared completely as if to say, ‘you’re OK, I’ll leave you alone’.
“The shark was gone but I wasn’t sure it wouldn’t return.
“The next part was pure endurance. I had to swim, constantly looking around to make sure there wasn’t an unwelcome visitor, with my spear gun pointed behind me.
“I swam for around three hours. It was nerve wracking.”
Finally on land, John stumbled in scrubland for another 30 minutes before a spotter plane alerted a rescue boat.
Shark Bay Volunteer Marine Rescue commander Greg Ridgley said: “He swam five miles in shark-infested water. I can’t believe anyone could do that.”
John, who was welcomed back by wife Emma, said the trip with a pal was going well.
But his spear had got stuck in a rock and as he battled underwater to free it their boat had experienced mechanical difficulties and drifted away.
John said: “I should have put the anchor down. It would have saved a lot of people a lot of time and effort, including me.”