Boating enthusiasts have told of a 'plague' of sharks descending on the Australian coastline after a great white tore a canoe in half in a terrifying attack.
One man ended up having a lucky escape last Wednesday (August 17) when the ferocious sea beast struck off Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales.
He had been navigating through the water near two other kayakers when the shark came up behind him and bit into the rear of the six-metre carbon fibre vessel, causing it to sustain irreparable damage.
In what was described as an 'ironic twist' by local media, the man was then rescued by a passing boat which had been on its way to installing a shark control drum line in the sea.
Reported to be a local accountant, he escaped uninjured and has since returned to the sea in a kayak borrowed from the local yacht club, where his mangled watercraft is currently being kept.
Commenting on the incident, club head commodore John Wait told the Australian Daily Telegraph it had been "only a matter of time" before an attack happened, as shark numbers in the area had reached "plague proportions".
But he contended that booms in the population were natural for the region around this time of year, adding: "It's just one of those things - numbers will start to drop off again soon".
Officers from the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries spoke to the man involved in the incident, and a spokesman later confirmed that a Great White Shark around three metres in length was thought to have been behind the attack.
They told Daily Mail Australia: "It was reported the man was kayaking between Pig Island and Coffs Harbour break wall when something struck the rear end of the kayak.
"NSW DPI shark biologists spoke to the man and assessed photographs of the kayak and the damage to ascertain if a shark was involved.
"The shark was not seen by any of the three kayakers in the area, but the bite indentations and profile in the kayak are indicative of a white shark."
