SerpApi.Org
Experienced boardrider Dave Seymour said he didn’t have a scratch on him following the July 19 incident in Australia
NEED TO KNOW
- Dave Seymour said that he went out on a hydrofoil into the water off Australia’s Moore Park Beach when a shark knocked him out
- His board carried puncture marks apparently left by the shark
- An expert said he thinks the shark involved in the incident measured about 9 feet in length
What started out as a typical boardriding outing for an Australian man became a scary ordeal when he got knocked out by a shark, believed to be about 9 feet in size, that sent him flying into the air.
In an interview with Australian news outlet 9News, Dave Seymour, of Bundaberg, said that he went out into the water off Moore Park Beach while testing his friend’s new hydrofoil on Sunday, July 19.
“Always heading into the water here, it feels a bit shark-y,” Seymour told the outlet. “But I’ve spent a life in the ocean and that hasn’t really affected me.”
However, Sunday’s incident was a “sobering moment” for him when he described what happened in a video post on social media recorded shortly after the incident.
“I was just about to stand up on the foil drive,” Seymour said in the clip, “and got hit from the side pretty hard.”
He displayed the damaged board, which appeared to have several punctures on it, according to the footage.
“This thing hits me — jeez, pretty quick pace, knocked me clear off,” Seymour added in the video. “I went clearly flying ... It’s a good reminder to be careful out there.”
Seymour, who has been boardriding for 35 years, told 9News that he initially thought a log had struck him.
“I’m swimming around, having a look,” he said, “I could not see a log. And I got this weird flush through me, like that eerie flush.”
Seymour added that someone from the fisheries department was planning to take a swab from the board’s punctures for DNA so they can verify the species.
9News reached out to marine expert Dr. Vincent Raoult, of Griffith University, who said the shark in the attack must have been very large.
“I’d be saying in the 2 to 3-metre [6.5- to 9.8-foot] range,” Raoult said.
Fortunately for Seymour, he came out of the incident mostly unscathed.
“Not a scratch on me,” he wrote in his social media post, “and just a great reminder that the ocean belongs to the sharks and we are just visitors.”
PEOPLE contacted Seymour on Tuesday, July 21, but did not receive an immediate reply.
According to the Florida Museum’s International Shark File, there were a total of 21 unprovoked shark bites in Australia last year, five of which were fatal.
On Saturday, July 18, a nearly 7-foot shark attacked a scuba diver in Adventure Bay, located on the southeastern coast of Australia’s Tasmania, the Tasmania Police shared in a news release.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The 31-year-old male victim was diving with two other people about 165 feet from shore when he was bitten by what is believed to have been a broadnose sevengill shark measuring about 6.5 feet.
The victim “sustained non-life-threatening injuries to his lower forearm” and was transported via helicopter to Royal Hobart Hospital, according to the police’s release. He was listed in stable condition.
Read the original article on People
