Surfer punches great white shark to escape attack in Australia

Aug. 29 (UPI) -- An Australian surfer said he was lucky to escape with scratches when he ended up in a fistfight with a shark that attacked his board and tore his wet suit.

Marcel Brundler said he was 30 to 50 feet offshore at Cathedral Rock, east of Lorne, Victoria, when the roughly 10-foot great white shark appeared in the water nearby.

Brundler said he initially mistook the predatory fish for a dolphin.

"But then I realized fairly quick because it was more than half a meter [1-1/2 feet] wide, with a massive dorsal fin, and it looked at me," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation "Then it kind of dived off, came back and circled me, and took a fair notch out of my board, circled me again, then it got me on my wettie, it got me on my hip."

"Luckily, it's just a little scrape on my skin," he said.

Brundler said he was saved from a more severe injury by his winter wet suit, which is thicker than what he would be wearing in warmer temperatures.

"When he got me he kind of dragged me on a little bit. Luckily I was wearing a really, really thick rubber wet suit, which probably saved me from bigger injuries," Brundler said.

He said he had to fight back against the shark.

"He had me in his jaw really," he told 3aw radio. "I had to punch him until he let go."

The surfer said he was able to make his way to shore after the shark lost its grip.

Brundler described the approximately one-minute-long encounter as "a really, really unpleasant morning."

The Victorian Fisheries Authority issued a warning following the attack, urging swimmers, surfers and boaters to avoid the area for about 6 miles in all directions.