Woman’s close shave with shark

A 49-year-old Denmark surfer has told of how he was about to go for a surf at Ocean Beach this morning when his plans were thwarted by a shark attack.

The witness said he was checking conditions from a lookout over Ocean Beach and noticed a male and female surfer and a swimmer in the water at about 10am.

“I was about to go in when someone said someone has just been knocked off their surfboard by a shark,” he said.

“There were a few others preparing to go out at the time but they were the only two out there apart from a swimmer.”

He said the attack occurred at the eastern side of the beach where surfers use a channel running alongside rocks to take them out to the swell.

He did not witness the woman, who he said was a Denmark resident and estimated to be in her late 20s or early 30s, knocked off her board or brought into shore.

“She was out there surfing with a male friend so he might have helped her in,” he said.

“When I got here the ambulance officers were treating her for bruises and she had a compression bandage on her hand but I did not see any blood or signs she had been bitten.

“It has come in and hit the board pretty hard and knocked her off it.”

The surfer said beachgoers were saying the shark “was a big one” but the species or size were unconfirmed.

“It was a sunny, clear day with small offshore conditions – the sort of day you would take your kids out in the water,” he said.

Denmark Surf Life Saving Club president George Mumford arrived at the scene just after 10am after receiving a call from Surf Life Saving WA.

He said a Denmark woman in her 30s was waiting on a bench outside the club.

“I was told she had been knocked off her surfboard by a shark that had taken a chunk out of her board,” Mr Mumford said.

“In the incident she has sustained some small lacerations to her hands, probably form the sharp edges of the surfboard and also some bruises.”

“She was a bit shaken but she is ok.”

He said he did not know the species or size of the shark at this time.

“The swimmer who was in the water told people it was 3-4 metres but that is unconfirmed,” he said.

“The beach has been closed and will remain closed for the next 48 hours.”

He said the attack victim has been conveyed to Denmark hospital for treatment.