Shark Attack Mystery

Illawarra Mercury

Monday April 18, 2005

By MICHELE TYDD

THE discovery of a boogie board covered in shark bites sparked a police search of an isolated beach near Gerringong yesterday.

The board was floating in waters off Crookhaven Heads yesterday morning, 8km south of where a shark patrol crew on Saturday reported seeing an empty board and a single blue flipper at Walkers Beach, near Gerringong, the previous day.

Police searched the beach for possessions and are examining the board, but at this stage they have no reports of any missing surfers.

The board's discovery followed Saturday's shark attack at Bronte in which a surfer escaped injury when a shark bit his board.

Harry Mitchell from the McDonald's Aerial Patrol said swimmers should take these incidents as a warning.

"I'm not sure what has happened with this boogie board but combined with what happened in Sydney, it's only a matter of time before we have a fatality similar to those we have seen in South Australia and Western Australia," he said yesterday.

"We have had a number of shark sightings this season and many have been close to shore."

In this latest incident, Mr Mitchell said the shark patrol crew on Saturday logged the sighting of the board at Walkers Beach, an isolated beach south of Gerringong, at 1pm.

"It was about 100m from the shore but before they could investigate further they were called away to another job," Mr Mitchell said.

"When they returned they thought they saw a blue flipper in the water but there was no sign of the board," he added.

There was nobody on the beach at the time.

Yesterday, about 8am, Mario Savocca, an officer from the Shoalhaven Marine Rescue Association, picked up a white and red boogie board at the river entrance at Crookhaven Heads with bites and teeth marks on it.

Base manager Michael Beckett said it looked like the board had been attacked by two different-sized sharks.

"I've only ever seen pictures of boards which have been attacked by sharks and this was exactly the same," he said.

Danger signs

REPORTED shark sightings this season along the Illawarra coast:

March 28: 3m tiger shark circles paddler off North Wollongong Beach.

January 26: Ten large sharks swim within 100m of the shore at Windang.

January 3: Two schools of hammerhead sharks sighted near swimmers at Windang.

December 27, 2004: Forty sharks threaten swimmers at Port Kembla and Windang beaches.