Surf cams have captured the moment a shark knocked a panicked foilboarder into the water at a popular beach on Western Australia's south-west coast.
Andy McDonald was on his daily surf at Prevelly Beach about 5.45pm yesterday when the sail of his wingfoil was pulled under and he could be seen suddenly falling into the water and thrashing.
The Margaret River father is lucky to be alive after he fell onto the creature and his wrist leash and board leash got tangled with the predator's body.
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"All of a sudden, just bash like a freight train hitting me and then it shot me, exploded me up into the air," McDonald told 9News.
"There was just shark all around me, it just felt like I was on top of the shark."
The 61-year-old managed to fight off the shark, making it out with only a bite to his board and an extraordinary story to tell.
"I was just like punching it and kicking, and I was panicking basically," he told 9News.
His mate Neil Mattinson, who was also out on the water, rushed to help and padded with him to safety.
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"I pretty soon noticed his board had a massive chunk out of it and asked him if he was injured and at that point he was that shocked and adrenalised, he actually didn't know if he'd been bitten or not," Mattinson told 9News.
McDonald said he "didn't even want to look up to see if there was a fin".
"I was thinking, I just hope this thing doesn't come back," he said.
The shark had taken a chomp out of the board, just centimetres away from his feet but luckily the tradie was uninjured.
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He had been between the Boat Ramp and the Bombie surfing spots when the encounter took place.
"I think once we got to shore, I think the gravity of the situation started to hit Andy but he's been really good with it all," Mattinson said.
Exactly what type of shark it was is unclear, with experts hoping to use DNA from the 61-year-old's board to identify it.
A shark warning was issued for the area but the beach was open today.
It seems the attack has not deterred anyone – even McDonald, saying his love affair with the water will keep going and he hoped to be back foiling as soon as tomorrow.
Officers from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development are monitoring the situation.
See the full warning from yesterday online here.
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