Gold Coast paddler Damien Rider stalked by monster 3.5m shark off Newcastle

A GOLD Coast paddler was stopped in his tracks three times by a monster shark 800m off Newcastle before he could make his way to shore yesterday.

A 3.5 metre shark goes in for the kill on a dolphin just off Newcastle's Burwood Beach. Picture by Peter Lorimer

A 3.5m shark stopped a Gold Coast paddler in his tracks three times in waters 800m off Newcastle before he made his way to shore yesterday.

Rainbow Beach local Damien Rider said his paddling partner John Rowlatt first saw the creature while passing the same beaches where a shark was seen mauling a dolphin last week.

Seeing the dorsal and tailfin of the shark breach the water the pair were certain of the shark species stalking them.

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Newcastle beaches were closed last week after several shark sightings.

“We saw two fins come out of the water and we both called it a great white,” Mr Rider said.

“In my experience (great whites) move different to other sharks, it was creepy. They know they’re the tough guy in the water and have nothing to prove when they cruise along,” the 39-year-old surfer said. “As it got closer we sat up and chilled out for a bit,” he said.

Hoping the shark had passed, the paddlers continued after a nervous laugh until the same ominous fin appeared 30m in front.

“That was when we knew it was definitely stalking us and we decided to head in,” he said.

Mr Rider said his first reaction was to film the ordeal. “I have two knives with me on the paddleboard for peace of mind, or if I get hungry, and it’s funny because I went for my Go-Pro camera instead,” he said.

A 3.5 metre shark just off Newcastle's Burwood Beach. Picture by Peter Lorimer

“I was just hoping the shark didn’t take my arms,” he said.

On shore he told lifeguards who then sounded the shark alarm.

Mr Rider had to abandon yesterday’s leg of the paddle after lifeguards said it would be unwise to go back into the water.

He hopes it was the third and final encounter with the predators on his Gold Coast to Sydney paddle.

Mr Rider said he had to get into the water with a shark to repair his board after a bronze whaler knocked his rudder off near Yamba and he said another shark surfaced that day.

After breaking records and receiving a nomination as “one of Australia’s best blokes” by a men’s magazine, he said the paddle was first and foremost about raising awareness for his charity Paddle Against Child Abuse.