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05/06/2005: "SURF HAZARD..... fatal big shark encounter."

This picture (and three others) arrived at Legends Surf Museum Coffs Harbour this week. We are hoping to learn who it was, where and when.

The picture was taken 9 December 2003, but it may have been copied from an original on this date. We have contacted various shark authorities and picture sources for help. The pictures are just a bit too terrible to pollute this site - sorry but that's the way it is. Some comments received from those who have seen the uncensored shots, including the question as to if we should show the pictures received:

Looks like a set-up to me......have never seen a sharks teeth cut like that.....looks like a knife cut. ( Dave Moran - NZ dive magazine).

Obviously a big bite, so I will run with the theme...depends on:
1. your own standards,
2. the audience you're targeting
3. what you're trying to achieve - titillation, voyeurism, objective reporting.

It could be offensive for a variety of reasons, (my opinion only). Then is publication of the pic OK with the victim's family so on and so forth? There are many forms of journalism so then it's whatever you're comfortable with. I am tempted to insert the word mediocrity in there somewhere... Lisa Simpson clone.

Are you trying to scare my wife out of the water? After all these years she has finally become a certified scuba diver and we recently went on a diving holiday overseas together. (B.S. Former dive shop proprietor).

I wonder where St Johns ambulance found the model for their staff training. (Ruth)

Is that a real person? (A divers magazine).

I've had mates who put the bite on me like that. Seriously is f--king aweful....enough to put you right off surfing. (P.F. Legendary NZ diver).

Eeeeiuuwww.....where did you get that from?? (L.P. Marine film productions)

Who is the poor bastard? (I.R.)

I have seen a lot of shark bites over the years. Nothing ever looked like that. The cuts look like knife cuts. They are trying to make it resemble a white but that's not the way they look in the real thing. Maybe I am wrong but I don't think so. A lot of this kind of presentation is very common in television production these days. It looks incredibly real. I think that's where it is coming from. Peter Bristow (professional charter captain).

Further evidence that sharks are responsible for a greater numbr of deaths in the sea that are often attributed to drowning. (Statisics shy away from death at sea to shark bite). Bill Robbins (close friend of Wally Gibbins).

JUNE 7: Peter Fields and I are now of the opinion the injury was NOT caused by a shark bite, but more likely an outboard motor propeller. Peter Bristow offered the clue to this line of thought - Dave Moran was 'on the ball' from the start. I initially thought the 'teeth marks' a bit too spaced or far-apart, but went with the theme that such a mess had to be caused by an animal. It goes to show how we lean heavily on blaming sharks first and foremost for serious sea injuries - including disappearances of people without a trace as the first and only probability. More balance is required by all such authorities quoted by various media. Myself included.