A father managed to save his 10-year-old son from a shark that pulled him off a boat, by jumping in the water and scaring the shark away, last Friday, July 17.
The father and son were on a fishing boat with two other men off the coast of Tasmania, Australia when the animal “grabbed” the child, as per ABC News on the same day.
One eyewitness named Ben Allen also noted that the group were cleaning some fish they caught when the incident happened.
“All of sudden, the shark’s leapt clean out of the water and it’s grabbed the little boy and pulled him straight in,” he was quoted as saying.
When the shark took his son, the father quickly jumped into the sea to save him. The man’s sudden decision apparently scared off the shark. Following the attack, the child sustained deep cuts to his arm, chest and head while his life jacket was shredded, as per report.
Once the boat returned to the shore, Allen’s friend performed first aid on the boy prior to bringing him to a nearby seafood shop to wait for an ambulance.
The child was then transferred to the North West Regional Hospital before being admitted to the Launceston General Hospital. According to the report, he is now in stable condition.
Allen later stated that the shark must have been in “feeding mode” and was searching at a nearby seal breeding ground at the time.
“It’s their area, you’re in their domain, it’s just mother nature, its one of those things,” he added.
Allen and other witnesses believe that the shark was a Great White shark, but it has not been confirmed. Meanwhile, shark attack researcher and author Chris Black explained that the animal was likely spooked by the father’s sudden jump into the water.
“It was probably the last thing it expected,” he said in the report.
Black also believes that the group’s fish cleaning attracted the shark to the boat. He noted that fish guts must have fallen in the sea while they were cleaning them.
“It’s in the DNA to investigate any source that could be food for them,” he added.
However, Black states that the attack was a “very rare occurrence.” Local authorities also issued an alert on the same day, warning of a “large shark” sighting approximately 10 meters off of the coast.
Source: The Star, Malaysia