Man tells of shark encounter as 12yo victim named
A BRISBANE man who tangled with a 2.5m shark in Cid Harbour believed it was probably the same one involved in one of this week’s attacks.
QLD News
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A BRISBANE man who tangled with a 2.5m shark in Cid Harbour believed it was probably the same one involved in one of this week’s attacks.
SEE VIDEO ABOVE
Keith Grundy was holidaying with his family in the Whitsundays harbour when the shark tried to steal a fish he was reeling in.
POLL: Should sharks be culled?
The incident happened at night eight days ago.
“It came straight under the boat I’d put money on it was the same shark,” he told The Courier-Mail today.
“It put the wind up us and kept us out of the water when the sun went down.”
Mr Grundy was still out there yesterday when 12-year-old Victorian girl Hannah Papps was mauled about 1.30pm.
“That happening in the middle of the day really scared the shit out of us,” he said.
“I had a bit of a sleepless night thinking what if it had been one of my kids.”
But Mr Grundy, who has holidayed in the Whitsunday five times, said it wouldn’t stop him coming back.
“When you go in the water you know there’s alway’s that risk,” he said.
“It really is terrible news.”
He said the shark he saw was grey and “definitely not a tiger shark”.
It emerged today Hannah was on holiday with her father and sister. The family lives in Melbourne but is originally from New Zealand.
Her family said in a statement: “We would like to thank everyone who has helped and cared for Hannah, including the police, emergency services and the hospital teams.
“As at 5pm, Friday, 21 September, Hannah is in a critical but stable condition.
“We ask that everyone, including the media, please respect our family’s privacy during this very difficult time so we can focus our energies on Hannah’s recovery.”
NOT SAFE TO GO BACK IN THE WATER
SHAG Islet Cruising Yacht Club vice-commodore of Cid Harbour Gabby Crehan was swimming in the water 15 minutes before Tasmanian woman Justine Barwick, 46, was attacked by a shark on Wednesday.
She said people regularly swam in the Whitsundays harbour off the back of their boats.
“The first we knew of it, there was screaming,” she said.
Ms Crehan grabbed binoculars to see someone getting pulled out of the water.
“There was blood all over the back of boat,” she said.
“She bled a huge amount before she got on board.
“Someone then was yelling ‘please can anybody help, can anybody help?’
“Very quickly there were three dinghies from yachts nearby heading in to help, and then two guys in a dinghy said “Is anyone a doctor or nurse?’
“The guys who came up in the dinghy looking for a doctor said she has been attacked by a bull shark. And then someone said later it could have been a tiger.”
There were about 50 or 60 boats around at the time.
“It’s a reasonably sheltered anchorage if you want to stop overnight,” Ms Crehan said.
“People leave in the morning, they go in droves.”
Ms Crehan said reception was poor in the area, adding she believed a radio was needed to call rescue crews for help.
“It’s so hard to get mobile phone reception there,” she said.
“The thing that worries me was the communication, I thought this woman could die and bleed to death.”
Ms Barwick was the first of two shark victims in the same area in as many days, with a 12-year-old Melbourne girl attacked in Cid Harbour yesterday. Both have been transferred to Brisbane for further treatment after undergoing emergency surgery in Mackay.
An Instagram photo posted last years shows how comfortable visitors to Cid Harbour are with being in the water:
Meanwhile, the charter company whose yachts both victims were staying on is warning its customers to stay out of the water.
Queensland Yacht Charter managing director Christophe Vanek said all the company’s clients had been warned to be vigilant and refrain from swimming in Cid Harbour and the broader Whitsundays for the foreseeable future.
“We’re are also working with relevant government agencies in relation to both incidents,” Mr Vanek said in a statement today.
Fisheries Queensland was setting three baited drum lines in the harbour today to catch the shark or sharks responsible.
“It is possible that there’s more than one shark involved in these unfortunate events,” the department’s shark control program manager Jeff Krause told the ABC.
“We don’t normally go out and search for any sharks that may have been involved in a shark attack but due to the nature of these multiple attacks, Fisheries Queensland is going to deploy three drum lines in a bid to try and catch some of the sharks in that area.”
Mr Krause said various types of whaler species, as well as bull and tiger sharks, could be found in waters around the harbour.
The last attack in the area was eight years ago.
Bond University shark attack expert Daryl McPhee said while the likelihood of being attacked by a shark was slim, the Great Barrier Reef had a higher population of sharks than other areas.
“Sharks will bite things that they think are prey, and sometimes they consider people prey,” he said.
Originally published as Man tells of shark encounter as 12yo victim named
Tributes for ‘one-of-a-kind’ mum allegedly murdered
Family, friends and loved ones have paid tribute to a one-of-a-kind “mum for everyone”, allegedly murdered last month.
Haunting reality behind Qld’s tragic mining history
Australia is known for its rich mining history – and sadly the tragedies that have come with it. SPECIAL REPORT