‘I thought it was all done’: Exmouth foil-boarder’s survival tale after terrifying run-in with 3m great white

A WA spark says it’s a “miracle” the ocean predator survived after a shark attacked his foil board before plunging into the dark depths next to him.

Dave Daniell was making a 15km run in his boat between the Exmouth beaches, known as Cemeteries and Hunters, when he was attacked about 2km offshore at around 5pm on Tuesday.

He was trying to get back on his board after falling over the tip of a wave.

His friend on the foil board was too far downwind to see what would happen next.

“I fell off the board and as I was climbing up the board the shark came flying in,” Mr Daniell said.

“I didn’t even see where the shark was coming from but I just caught its nose as it was biting and it pulled the whole back of the board.

I managed to get it out of the way while it was biting my leg… When it took a bite, I held on to the board and then tried to stand up again.

“It all happened pretty quickly and as I was getting back up, he nudged the actual foil, the pole, and dropped me back on top of the shark.”

Mr Daniell said the shark, thought to be a great white, was centimeters away after being thrown into “murky water”.

“I wasn’t right at the top, but it was just below the water and the water was so dirty I could only see part of the shark’s silhouette.

“I was praying because I thought it was over. After the bump came I managed to paddle the board up and get onto the foil and rode it from the back all the way to Hunters Beach.

“It was a bit of a miracle to take a hit and get back up on the foil.”

Mr Daniell said he “wandered” his way back to Hunters, about 6 miles from the scene of the shark attack, with part of his board missing.

“I did that 9km without falling again, I just didn’t want to make any more turns or fall while making turns and I didn’t want to break your wings on that, because you’re actually kind of surfing on lumps, surfing on lumps in the waves,” he said.

“I just drew a straight line and didn’t try to do anything really crazy.”

Mr Daniell’s friend arrived at Hunters Beach before him but was unaware of the attack until he saw the bite mark.

“Things could have been so much worse, even with the first bite, my leg probably came off as I jumped back on the board to start paddling,” he said.

“There were no tourniquets or anything there. I have a time to call and even if I let my wife know, she would have to row upwind to where I was and that wouldn’t work at all.

“It would be a pretty sticky situation.”

Mr Daniell said DNA testing was carried out on his board by DPIRD to determine which shark species was involved. He said scientists suspect it was a great white about 10 feet in size.

“It could just be a large whaler or a great white, but they’re thinking more of a white shark because it hides and attacks quite aggressively and hard,” he said.

“They usually come flying in to get a bite, and that’s why so many people die from them.”

Mr Daniell said the attack did not stop him from setting off for another foil the next day.

“I’ve had a lot of encounters and attacks because I spend so much time in the water. I love swimming with sharks,” he said.

“There’s plenty of family time for diving, surfing and foiling here as a family.”

The encounter occurred around 8pm on Tuesday, a few hours before the attack, when a 10-foot great white was reported to have been seen by a member of the public in the area.