Daily paddle turns to bloody horror
A ROUTINE paddle turned to terror for a 65-year-old man yesterday when a shark bit him on the foot and knocked him off his surf ski.
It was the latest in a wave of attacks in the past year along the NSW coast that have killed two people and injured six others. The attacks have sparked debate about shark nets and culling.
Dave Quinlivan was about an hour and a half into his paddle off Black Head beach, north of Forster, when the shark – thought to be a great white – reportedly breached next to his ski and latched on to his left ankle and foot.
The retired firefighter lost his paddle but managed to scramble back on to the 5m racing ski and use his arms to paddle the ski like a surf board back to shore, where bystanders rushed to his aid.
Black Head Beach Surf Lifesaving Club administration director Scott Crawford said Mr Quinlivan was “a lovely bloke” who had been a popular club member for about three years.
He was treated on the beach by paramedics before being flown by Westpac Rescue Helicopter to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.
“He’s one who doesn’t put his feet in the water so it would appear the shark came up over the side of the ski and took a nip at him. He’s got lacerations to his left foot and ankle, the ski is undamaged,” Mr Crawford said.
Doctors who treated Mr Quinlivan at the scene said the cuts from the shark’s teeth went down to the bone.
The club’s board and ski captain Noelene Young usually paddles with Mr Quinlivan but was not out on the water with him yesterday because she had to work.
She told club members she had seen a shark while paddling off the beach the day before but Mr Crawford said it was uncommon.
“I’ve had a house here for 30 years and been coming for longer than that and I gather that the record seems to show the last attack was 1923, two years before the club was founded,” he said.
“I’ve spoken to him, he was quite lucid.”
Mr Crawford said the father of three adult sons would paddle around the head to Diamond Beach and back – a round trip of about 10km – “two or three times” most mornings.