Shark Attacks and Shark Attack Related Incidents News Articles on Shark Bites

Attacked by a shark ... one year on

20Dec07
Peter Galvin makes a return to the surf, a year after being attacked by a shark.

PETER Galvin can still feel the presence of a shark circ ling around him before it wrapped its jaws around his leg near Bells Beach last year.

Mr Galvin this week spoke publicly for the first time about the shark attack, which severed most of his left leg on December 18, while surfing at Winki Pop.

The 26-year-old told the echo, as he prepared to mark the anniversary with a surf at 13th Beach, he punched and kicked the predator with his other leg until it let go.

``I was sitting on my board and I could feel it swimming between my legs and touch ing my legs and I knew it wasn't anything else, like a dolphin or seal, but a shark,'' Mr Galvin said.

``I thought then it would have a go or swim off it had a go.

``It came from behind and bit my leg and board at the same time and to this day I think my board saved me because it (the shark) would've just bit the leg and it would have come straight off.''

Despite blood gushing from the back of his leg, he man aged to paddle himself to shore where the water was about 15cm deep.

``I just lay there once I got in because I couldn't move and I couldn't even stand on my good leg because I had no energy,'' he said.

``The most terrifying part was when the shark let go because I was floating in the water and I knew it was still around somewhere and I was worried it would come back and have another go.

``While I was sitting in the water I thought I'd lose my leg because I didn't pay too much attention to what was wrong with it but when my finger went inside my leg, that was enough, I didn't need to know any more and I stopped looking at it.''

Mr Galvin was surfing at the popular surf beach at 7.30pm with his friend An drew Majernik, who was un aware what happened be cause he was about 100m out waiting for a wave.

But Mr Majernik paddled in immediately when he saw his mate sitting helpless in the shallow water. ``I put him on a board and moved him onto the sand because he was bleeding pretty badly,'' he said.

``I ran to the top of the car park where I saw two people driving off and yelled for them to stop and call an ambu lance. ``It was hard leaving him but I had no other choice because there was no one else on the beach.''

Mr Majernik took off his wetsuit and transformed it into a pillow for Mr Galvin, feeding him water and wrapped him in a towel to try and stop the bleeding until paramedics arrived.

Mr Galvin was airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hos pital where doctors operated on his leg for six-hours. ``From the time of the at tack and until I got to the hospital it was about an hour and it's not until then I started to feel the pain go away, it was just terrible.'' Mr Galvin was pumped with up to 50ml of morphine to ease the pain a standard pain relief is 2.5ml.

He had four rounds of sur gery, including a skin graft, to to repair his leg. Mr Galvin was in hospital for 11 days after the attack but after being out of hospital for only two weeks was admit ted again following compli cations, which led to a one- month stay.

He suffered another set back after leaving the hos pital when he had an allergic reaction to antibiotics, result ing in a rash covering his skin and putting him back into the hospital bed for another five days. Mr Galvin was on crutches and in a wheel chair for about three months and now needs a brace around his ankle to keep it in position.

Despite the ordeal, Mr Galvin said he re-entered the water, at Torquay's Fisher man's Beach, two-weeks after his first operation and although he did not surf, he said he could not fear the ocean. ``I'm still not the same per son because what happened changes you and stays with you forever,'' he said.

``I sometimes get freaked out when I'm in the water when I see something dark in the water or a cloud goes over the water giving off a reflec tion,'' he said. ``But I get more enjoyment putting up with the feeling of anxiety and getting my enjoy ment out of surfing than not putting up with that feeling and not getting in the water.''

Mr Galvin said he had no resentment towards the shark that changed his life forever.

``I'm lucky that I haven't lost my leg and I am lucky I can still walk and do the things I want I was just unlucky to get attacked by a shark,'' he said.

``The ocean doesn't owe me anything and if you don't accept the risks that come with the ocean you don't get in in the first place.''

``All this makes you realise how small you are and when I think of that moment when the shark bit me it brings me back down to earth and I realise it can be all over just like that.''



- ALEKS DEVIC, THE ECHO


http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/art ... _news.html

Surfers defy shark threat

TWO men had to be convinced not to jump back into the ocean moments after a young man was mauled by a shark near one of Australia's most famous surf beaches, police said today.

Senior Constable Lisa Kearney, of Torquay Police, was at Winki Pop beach, near Bells Beach, after 25-year-old Peter Galvin, of Yarraville, was mauled by a shark just before 8pm yesterday.

She said Mr Galvin, who used to live in Torquay, was surfing about 50 metres apart from friend Andrew Majerni, of Williamstown, 100 metres from shore.

"The victim was sitting on his board with his legs dangling over the side and the shark has come up from underneath and grabbed his left leg in the calf and thigh area," she said.

"His mate saw he was in trouble and went to help, helped him into shore."

Mr Majerni and two British backpackers kept pressure on the wound until Rural Ambulance Victoria paramedics arrived.

Snr Const Kearney said Mr Galvin lost a lot of blood, but was conscious throughout the ordeal, and there was still a shark tooth in his wetsuit.

She said while paramedics were still treating Mr Galvin, police had to convince two men who appeared to be aged in their late 20s not to return to the surf.

"There were a couple (of surfers) who wanted to go out after the attack - it is just unbelievable," she said.

"It is just a risk that they are prepared to take," she said.

Meanwhile Australia's peak surfing body wants the shark responsible for an attack on a man near Bells Beach to be hunted down and killed.

However Premier Steve Bracks disagrees.

"If there was any purpose or use in hunting down a shark because it could prevent some other attack, well, then you would probably consider it, but it won't happen," Mr Bracks said. "The reality is that shark could be anywhere. There could be new sharks in the area.

"The reality is that this is obviously a random attack and a regrettable one," he said.

His comments came after Steve Robertson, from Surfing Australia, the national governing body for the sport, said the shark that attacked Mr Galvin should be killed to stop it attacking again.

When asked whether it should be killed he said: "Unfortunately yes. It is not a nice thing, but I don't think any surfer wants it hanging around."

Mr Robertson said the shark was in a marine reserve and may be protected.


"Our fishing mates can't go in there and chase it," he said.


Mr Robertson said while not commonplace, shark attacks did worry Victorian surfers.


"It is always a worry because it is a very popular surf spot," he said.


He said it was not the first time a shark had attacked a surfer in the area.


In 1992, Mark Jepson was attacked by shark in nearby Point Lonsdale.


Dr Terry Walker, a shark expert from the Department of Primary Industries, told Southern Cross Radio there was a "fairly low risk" of shark attacks in Victorian waters.


Mr Galvin suffered puncture wounds to his left calf and a major gash to a bone under his knee.

Sen-Constable Lisa Kearney, of Torquay police, said the shark attacked Mr Galvin from behind.

"The shark has grabbed his leg by the calf and taken a pretty nasty bite out of it," Sen-Constable Kearney said.

"He's very lucky he wasn't pulled off his board. It was an extremely large, deep bite. He's one very lucky man to be alive."

Mr Galvin, formerly of Yarraville, was helped to shore by his friend. English backpackers then applied pressure on the wound until paramedics arrived.

He was treated by paramedics then flown by air ambulance to Royal Melbourne Hospital where he was in a serious but stable condition last night.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/ ... 61,00.html

Shark mauls surfer off Bells Beach
19th December 2006, 6:45 WST

A 25-year-old Melbourne man was flown to hospital last night after being mauled by a shark off Victoria's most famous surfing spot, Bells Beach.



Peter Galvin, of Yarraville, was surfing on the Winkipop reef break shortly before dusk when a shark lunged at his left leg.

He received puncture wounds to the top of his calf and a major gash under his knee when he was attacked about 8pm, Rural Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said.

Mr Galvin made his own way back to the beach, where bystanders tried to stem the blood flow while calling for paramedics, who later treated him at the scene.

An ambulance helicopter landed between rocks on the beach and took him to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he was reported last night to be in a satisfactory condition.

Metropolitan Ambulance Service spokesman Phil Cullen said: "He was surfing off Bells Beach at the time and the alarm was raised by another surfer, who ran up the beach in search of a mobile telephone.

"By the time our people arrived, the man was in significant pain and had to given pain relief before he could be loaded onto the helicopter."

A police spokeswoman at nearby Torquay, Lisa Kearney, said Mr Galvin was lucky his injuries were not more serious.

"A tooth was found in his wetsuit. He had been bitten from behind, resulting in wounds to his upper thigh and lower calf. He was very lucky to escape without being more seriously injured," Senior Constable Kearney said.

"The alarm was raised by two British backpackers in a car park overlooking the beach. His offsider, who was with him at the time, ran up the stairs to see if anybody was there to help out. So they came down and put pressure on the wounds until ambulance and local police got down there. We don't know who they are, but they've done well."

Senior Constable Kearney said Mr Galvin's mother lived in the Torquay area and had rushed to Melbourne to be with her son.

Surfing Australia spokesman and long-time Bells surfer Stephen Robertson said the attack happened at dusk and that witnesses reported seeing a shark between 21/2 and three metres long after Mr Galvin's left leg and surfboard were savaged.

Mr Robertson said he was unsure what type of shark it was but the aggressiveness of the strike and the extent of the wounds indicated it was likely to have been a white pointer.

"The shark left some teeth behind in the wound, so it won't be too hard to identify," he said.

He said the popular break next to Bells Beach, renowned as one of Victoria's best, was not a regular haunt for sharks. "I've surfed around there my whole life and I've never seen a single shark there," he said.

But he said that fishermen in the area had reported sharks in recent days and attributed this to warmer ocean temperatures affecting the region.

Murray Thomas, 34, surfed the break less than an hour before the attack and dashed back down to the beach when he saw the ambulance fly by him.

"He had a chunk taken out of his calf, just hanging off, and his board had been chomped, it had teeth marks underneath," Mr Thomas said. "The chopper landed and they stretchered him on and got him out of there."

Mr Thomas said other surfers in the water at the time had seen and heard nothing before the attack, and were surprised that the shark had bitten someone so close to shore. He did not see Mr Galvin reach safety but believed he had managed to paddle to the beach by himself.

Mr Thomas, who had been surfing at Winkipop for the past four days, said other travellers he was surfing with had seen seals playing and swimming in the area in recent days. "You think about that and then you think that he was in there at dusk, lying on his board," he said.

He said the conditions had not been ideal, with messy small waves and a strong breeze.

Last night's incident was the first reported shark attack in Victoria since 2005, when 18-year-old Tom Burke was bitten off Flinders, on the Mornington Peninsula, receiving minor injuries.

The most recent confirmed fatal shark attack in Victoria was in 1956.

Rural Ambulance Victoria's Mr Mullen said shark attacks on the state's west coast were rare, and he could not remember when the previous one occurred.

Shark attacks in Australian waters this year:

DECEMBER 2 Zak Golebiowski, 15, of Mount Gambier, was body boarding with his brother, 18, off Wharton Beach near Esperance, when a 5m shark bit off part of his right leg.

JANUARY 7 Sarah Whiley, 21, had her arms bitten off by what was thought to be a group of bull sharks off Amity Point, North Stradbroke Island, in the first fatal shark attack at any of Queensland's 84 designated coastal swimming spots.

FAIRFAX

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx? ... ntID=16663

Don't kill rogue shark, says Bracks
By Danny Rose

December 19, 2006 12:00

Article from: AAPFont size: + -
Send this article: Print Email
A VICTORIAN surfer is recovering in hospital with multiple shark bite wounds as debate rages over whether the predator should be hunted down and killed.

Peter Galvin, 25, was bleeding freely from cuts and deep lacerations to his left leg, and still had a tooth lodged in his wetsuit when he was pulled from surf at Winki Pop beach just before 8pm (AEDT) yesterday.

Victorian Premier Steve Bracks, who used to surf at nearby Bells Beach on Victoria's southern coast, today said there was little point sending out a hunting party.

"If there was any purpose or use in hunting down a shark because it could prevent some other attack, well, then you would probably consider it, but it won't happen,'' Mr Bracks said.

"The reality is that shark could be anywhere. There could be new sharks in the area.

"The reality is that this is, obviously, a random attack and a regrettable one.''

Mr Bracks' comments came after Steve Robertson, from Surfing Australia, the national governing body for the sport, said he thought the shark should be prevented from attacking again.

Mr Robertson said shark attacks were not commonplace in Victoria, and the latest incident occurred in a marine reserve.

Asked if the shark should be killed, he said: "Unfortunately yes''.

"It is not a nice thing, but I don't think any surfer wants it hanging around,'' Mr Robertson said.

"It is always a worry because it is a very popular surf spot.''

But Surfing Australia CEO Mark Lane backed away from the comments.

"The killing of any creature is not a strategy that Surfing Australia supports,'' he said.

It is thought a smaller species of shark such as a broad nose seven gill shark was responsible for the attack on Mr Galvin, who remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Senior Constable Lisa Kearney, of Torquay Police, was at Winki Pop beach when Mr Galvin, of Yarraville, was brought from the water injured and bleeding.

She said Mr Galvin had been surfing about 50 metres from friend Andrew Majerni, of Williamstown, about 100 metres offshore.

"The victim was sitting on his board with his legs dangling over the side and the shark has come up from underneath and grabbed his left leg in the calf and thigh area,'' she said.

"His mate saw he was in trouble and went to help, helped him into shore.''

Mr Majerni and two British backpackers kept pressure on the wound until Rural Ambulance Victoria paramedics arrived.

Snr Const Kearney said Mr Galvin lost a lot of blood, but was conscious throughout the ordeal.

While paramedics were still treating Mr Galvin, police also had to convince two men who appeared to be aged in their late 20s not to return to the surf.

"There were a couple (of surfers) who wanted to go out after the attack - it is just unbelievable,'' she said.

Musician Xavier Rudd was about to go into the water when the shark struck, and today was staying clear of the famous surf break.

He said he saw the teeth marks on the board and the injuries to the man's leg.

"I thought I'd give it a miss,'' he told Network Ten.

Snr Const Kearney said police often had reports of minor shark-related incidents on Victoria's popular surf beaches.

"We have had quite a few nibbles on boards,'' she said.

It was the second serious shark attack in Australia this month, after a 15-year-old boy had part of his right leg bitten off as he was surfing at a beach in WA.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/s ... 28,00.html

Authorities mull hunting attack shark
Victorian authorities are still considering whether to hunt for the shark that attacked a surfer near Bells Beach last night.

Peter Galvin, 25, was sitting on his board about 100 metres from shore at Winki Pop when a shark attacked from behind.

He suffered a deep gash behind his left knee and puncture wounds to his left calf.

He has undergone surgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and remains in a stable condition.

Shark expert at Melbourne Aquarium, David Donnelly, says there is no point destroying the shark.

"There's no value in doing that," he said.

"I think anybody who has that approach to tracking down and killing a predator without knowing if they're actually getting the predator that's attacked an individual really needs to have a look at the way they view the world and the environment."

The Premier, Steve Bracks, agrees.

"The reality is the shark has probably gone," he said.

Shark spotting aircraft are currently patrolling the area but have not sighted anything.

Meanwhile, Life Saving Victoria's Brett Ellis says the attack should not deter people from using the beach.

"We're encouraging them to go to patrolled locations and swim between the flags," he said.

"The lifesavers will look out for things like sharks and we have the plane running every day, on public holidays and weekends and also the January school holiday break."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/20 ... 814840.htm