An Australian man who refers to himself by the nickname “Shark Bait” was severely injured after being bitten on the leg while surfing off the coast of New South Wales.
Joel Mason, 36, was surfing along Nambucca Heads when an unidentified species of shark pulled him under. A nearby surfer witnessed the incident.
“One of them saw him disappear under the water, with a flume of water spraying up and then the victim has lifted his arm up to indicate he was having a problem,” NSW spokeswoman Donna Wishart said.
Mason was able to make it to shore where he was airlifted to a nearby hospital with severe lacerations to his leg that cause massive blood loss. As of Monday morning he was listed in stable condition.
“He loves to surf early and he loves to surf by himself, which is sort of a bit risky,” Joel’s father, Rob Mason, told the Sydney Morning Herald. “He says he’s shark bait, but he’s prepared to take the risk, and he does.”
It was the eighth recorded incident on Australian beaches in the last three months and the sixteenth so far this year. The spate of incidents has led to a variety of countermeasures from drone spotting to large-scale culls.
A father of three, who’s previously described himself as “shark bait”, has been attacked while out for an early morning surf at Nambucca Heads. @zara_james9 #9News pic.twitter.com/McCyXXJ7wa
— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) December 9, 2018