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Surfers end up at the center of a disproportionate number of shark attacks due to the animal’s propensity to confuse them with its typical prey. One man who was catching some waves off the coast of Australia became the latest victim of that reality, and while he escaped relatively unscathed, the same can’t be said for the board he’ll have to replace after a great white chomped down on it.
Australia trails only the United States when it comes to the countries that have historically been responsible for the highest number of shark attacks on an annual basis, and they’re just one of a number of threats that people who decide to take advantage of its more than 20,000 miles of coastline need to be aware of.
In 2024, there were nine unprovoked shark attacks recorded in Australia (none of which were fatal), although the country is already on track to surpass that number this year when you consider there have already been eight documented cases that have resulted in the death of two victims.
Those numbers only account for instances where the person who was targeted by a shark was physically bitten, but one surfer came closer to becoming a statistic than he would have preferred due to what unfolded on Monday.
A great white took a huge bite out of a surfboard in an attack that transpired in Australia
In July, a surfer was filmed punching a shark that bit the arm of a teenager in the waters off Cabarita Beach in New South Wales, and according to 1News, that stretch of sand was the site of another incident that unfolded on the morning of August 18th.
Brad Ross headed to Cabarita Beach on Monday morning to catch some waves when some people on the shore spotted a commotion in the water before he headed back to shore with the board that had snapped in two thanks to the sizeable chunk a shark had managed to take out of it.
Ross did suffer “a few scratches and some bruises to his leg” but was otherwise unharmed aside from the lingering psychological trauma that comes with that sort of experience.
The beach was subsequently shut down, and it appears a great white was responsible when you consider a 16-foot member of that species was hooked in the vicinity shortly after the incident.