Oi, back off! That’s my kingfish
Kerikeri man Kevin Lloyd not only beat off an aggressive mako shark on Saturday — he even emerged from the water with the kingfish he had speared shortly before the attack.
He was spearfishing near the Cavalli Islands with friends when he was attacked by a 2.1m mako, which initially latched on to one leg.
“I started stabbing it heaps with my knife, and it didn’t quite like that so it turned around and bit my hand. Then I was just trying to get my hand out of its mouth so I gouged its eye with my left hand — this is all while my mate’s holding on to the tail of the shark trying to pull it off me,” he said.
The shark eventually let go of his hand and swam off.
Kevin and his friend swam some 200m back to the boat, then picked up another friend who had been dropped at a different spot and headed to Matauri Bay to meet emergency services. He was treated at Bay of Islands Hospital, receiving 10 stitches to close the wound on his hand.
And despite the drama, he was “pretty stoked” that he had landed his kingfish.
The dive had been his first since returning from a stint with the Navy in the Pacific Islands, and the attack had not put him off. He was actually thinking about going back out on Sunday.