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Lifelong surfer Dave Seymour was enjoying an early morning session at Moore Park Beach in Queensland, Australia when a routine session instantly turned into a battle for survival.
Seymour was electric hydrofoil surfing in Bundaberg—riding a friend's carbon-fiber e-foil—an area known for active marine life.
"Always heading into the water here, it feels a bit sharky," Seymour recalled. "I've spent my life in the ocean, and that hasn't really affected me."
The calm session shattered within ten minutes. Seymour was hovering above the ocean surface, preparing to accelerate, when a massive underwater predator struck the e-foil from underneath with immense kinetic force.
"My finger was on the remote," Seymour said, "and I just went flying. It just hit me."
Dazed in the water, Seymour initially thought he had collided with a floating log. But as he scanned his surroundings and saw empty ocean, the terrifying reality sank in. "I just got this weird flush through me, like an eerie flush," Seymour said.
Scrambling back onto the damaged board, Seymour made a desperate sprint for the beach. Upon inspection, the carbon fiber deck revealed severe puncture wounds and deep teeth marks etched across both sides.
Related: 10-Foot Great White Shark Stalks Unsuspecting Swimmers off Southern California (Video)
Fisheries scientists are currently swabbing the bite marks to extract shark DNA, aiming to determine the exact species and size of the predator, estimated to be between two to three meters long.
The near-miss comes as Australia grapples with a heavy spate of shark encounters along its eastern, southern, and western coastlines. Murky floodwaters, shifting bait fish populations, and rising ocean temperatures have triggered unprecedented beach closures.
The sudden surge in incidents prompted Steve Pearce, chief executive of Surf Life Saving NSW, to urge extreme caution, going so far as to say: "If you're thinking about going for a swim, just go to a local pool because at this stage, we're advising that beaches are unsafe."
Despite the chilling incident, Seymour’s love for the sea remains unshaken. Refusing to let the scare keep him on dry land, he maintains a pragmatic perspective shared by many seasoned watermen.
"The ocean always delivers way more good than bad," he said.
Related: World’s Sharkiest Surf Zones Ranked by Deadly Shark Encounters
