Great white shark likely attacker of man fighting for life after being bitten at Port Macquarie beach
About 150m from shore and suffering massive blood loss, surfer Toby Begg fought off the shark attacking him and made it to shore. His luck changed when an off-duty doctor was on the beach. Doctors are now operating to save his life.
NSW
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A surfer who suffered catastrophic leg injuries managed to fight off a great white shark for 30 seconds before paddling himself to shore at a Port Macquarie beach.
Popular local Toby Begg, 44, was undergoing emergency surgery late on Friday as doctors worked to save his life after he suffered significant injuries and substantial blood loss in the attack 150m off Lighthouse Beach.
Once the surfer made it to shore an off-duty doctor and other surfers applied a tourniquet until ambulance officers arrived.
NSW Chief Inspector Martin Burke praised the members of the public who helped the injured surfer in extremely difficult circumstances.
“To have the absolute luck of having an emergency department doctor and the public on scene, are all going to be key things that are going to lend itself to giving this gentleman the best chance of survival.”
Chief Inspector Burke said the shark was between 3.8 and 4.2 metres long and described the attack as “sustained and prolonged”.
Biologists from NSW Department of Primary Industries have used photographs of bite marks on the surfboard of the man to determine the likely culprit as Surf Life Saving drones continue the search.
A spokesperson for NSW DPI said the bite marks indicate the great white shark could be between 3.8 and 4.2 metres in length.
The spokesperson also confirmed four SMART drumlines – or Shark-Management-Alert-In-RealTime – were deployed by the contractor early Friday morning, but the shark was not detected.
“The last tagged shark detected by the Port Macquarie tagged shark listening station was a White Shark yesterday. Three White Sharks were caught on the SMART drumlines in the area yesterday – two at North Shore Beach and one at Lighthouse Beach,” the spokesperson said.
NSW Ambulance and NSW Police officers were called to Lighthouse Beach about 10am, after reports the man had been bitten by a shark.
Early reports suggested the 44-year-old’s right foot was bitten off.
He also suffered a bite to the left leg, with life-threatening levels of blood loss.
Lighthouse Beach was closed to the public.
The beach is 7km south of Port Macquarie, and is a favourite among surfers with the Watonga Rocks formation a much photographed location.
The beaches of Port Macquarie have earned a reputation as a hotspot for shark attacks.
In November 2020, a 13-year-old boy suffered bites to his foot, finger and upper leg when he was attacked at Town Beach.
A 35-year-old woman was also badly mauled at Shelly Beach in August 2020 and was saved by her husband who punched the shark until it let go.
The attack is set to reignite debate around shark attack prevention measures after Premier Chris Minns stood firm against calls by the Greens and Animal Justice MPs to ban shark nets.
Despite just one fatal shark attack occurring on a netted beach in NSW since the meshing program was introduced in 1937, the minor parties have called on Mr Minns to ditch nets.
Mr Minns has stared down the MPs, saying new technology – including shark-spotting drones and drum lines – wasn’t advanced enough for him to happily remove nets along the country’s most popular beaches.
“We‘re looking closely at the emerging technology. I think it’s a good ambition to remove them on popular Sydney beaches, but I’ve got to have confidence that the replacement and new technologies are as good as or at least as an appropriate substitutions as shark nets,” he said.
“I’m not going to get rushed into it. This is an important decision and when it comes to the safety of people that recreate, surf and use Sydney beaches, I need to make sure that we’re completely satisfied … I don’t have that confidence at the moment.”
Figures for 2022-2023 released earlier this month show NSW’s 51 netted beaches caught 204 animals that weren’t sharks, or four animals per net over the year.
The beach where the man was attacked is understood to have four SMART drumlines.
Originally published as Great white shark likely attacker of man fighting for life after being bitten at Port Macquarie beach
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