Shark attack: Great white destroys canoe near Coffs Harbour break wall on NSW mid north coast
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Shark attack horror as a six-metre canoe is ‘bitten in half’ by a great white on Australia’s east coast
- Three-metre great white shark attacked canoe during kayaker’s morning paddle
- Kayaker wasn’t injured in frightening ordeal and has since returned to the water
- Shark mauled off large chunk of canoe at Coffs Harbour on NSW north coast
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A kayaker has survived a terrifying encounter with a three-metre great white shark which destroyed his outrigger canoe.
The retired accountant was on an early morning paddle near the Coffs Harbour south break wall on the NSW north coast last Wednesday when the predator suddenly lunged at his canoe from behind without warning and bit off a large chunk of the carbon fibre vessel.
The paddler wasn’t injured in the attack and has since returned to the water with a loaned canoe to train for an upcoming event this weekend.
His mauled six-metre canoe is in much worse shape after a section behind where the kayaker was seated was bitten off.
What’s left of the vessel is punctured with multiple teeth marks.
A three-metre great white shark is believed to be responsible for this extensive damage to a mauled outrigger canoe (pictured)
The Department of Primary Industries DPI believes a three-metre great white shark (stock image) was responsible for last week’s incident
Coincidentally, the kayaker flagged down a passing boat on its way out to sea to install a Shark-Management-Alert-In-Real-Time drum line ahead of the warmer months.
‘The water went all bubbly – then it was all flat as a tack in seconds – it happened really quickly,’ a local told the Coffs Harbour Advocate.
Coffs Harbour yacht club commodore John Wait wasn’t surprised to hear about the kayaker’s encounter with a shark.
‘They are out there in plague proportions at the moment,’ he said.
‘It’s just one of those things – numbers will start to drop off again soon.’
The kayaker’s terrifying encounter took place near the Coffs Harbour south break wall (pictured)
The Department of Primary Industries believes a white shark was likely responsible for the incident.
‘It was reported the man was kayaking between Pig Island and Coffs Harbour break wall when something struck the rear end of the kayak,’ a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.
‘NSW DPI shark biologists spoke to the man and assessed photographs of the kayak and the damage to ascertain if a shark was involved.
‘The shark was not seen by any of the three kayakers in the area, but the bite indentations and profile in the kayak are indicative of a white shark.’