A fisherman who was savagely bitten by a shark survived the encounter after punching it in the face, it has been reported.
Jackson 'Jacko' Howson was fishing near Coral Bay, north of Perth in Western Australia together with his girlfriend when he was attacked on Saturday.
He was left with horrifying injuries from the shark bite, reported to be from a whaler or a bull shark.
The man, who is in his 20s, was left with a bite wound on his leg measuring up to 8 cm, after the shark went for the same fish that Mr Howson had just speared.
In a quick-thinking moment of desperation he punched the shark and swam 100m back to his boat and to his girlfriend, where they escaped.
Posting pictures of his lower leg injuries from hospital, Mr Howson was said to be in 'good spirits' and preparing for surgery.
The West Australian reported that one witness, Nick Hardie, said he was fishing south of the bay when he saw Mr Howson and his partner coming his way.
He said: "We saw this white boat come rushing up to us and we were a bit confused. We saw that a guy was sitting in the floor of the boat and there was blood all over the boat."
He added that his boat was the first the pair had come across after the attack.
"We followed them into the boat ramp and then parked up next to them and I jumped on their boat," he added.
"She [the girlfriend] was a bit nervous and didn't really know how to drive it and he was on the floor, so I parked the boat up against the jetty at the boat ramp."
He said he drove the boat to safety where paramedics treated Mr Howson's thigh.
He is now said to be recovering at Royal Perth Hospital.
