A man in Australia claimed he had a “lucky day” after escaping a 13ft shark that attacked his kayak and left him clinging on to the boat as the creature circled him.
Kyle Roberts (31) was paddling off his local beach in calm conditions on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland when the tiger shark suddenly knocked him off the kayak.
“It hit side-on with such force it ejected me and flipped the kayak,” he told the ‘Courier Mail’. “I landed in the water about [seven feet] away and looked to see it locked on to the middle part.
“It let go and disappeared. I swam over and inspected the damage. I could put my fingers in the holes left by its teeth.”
Mr Roberts, who regularly kayaks in the area, used his radio to contact surf rescue authorities and waited about 35 to 40 minutes for them to arrive.
David McLean, from Surf Life Saving Queensland, said Mr Roberts was “starting to panic, especially when the shark was starting to circle him”.
“There was no blood in the water – nothing else to attract any sharks – just came out of the blue, completely broadsided him, and as he stated, he’s very lucky to be here,” Mr McLean said.
“It had punctured the kayak – he managed to get back to the kayak and hung on and fortunately there was an air bubble at the front of the kayak which managed to keep it afloat until we could get to him.” Mr Roberts said he planned to return to the water on his kayak next week.
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