A 46-year-old man was hospitalised after being bitten on the legs 11 times by a shark while diving off Binningup, in Western Australia.

Missing diver, shark attack feared By Greg Stolz February 17, 2004 A SHARK may have taken a Gold Coast diver whose speargun floated to the surface south of Tweed Heads yesterday. Police said the reef on which the man, 31, was free-diving was teeming with tiger sharks, and blood from a fish he speared moments before he disappeared may have sparked a shark attack. Another theory was that the man, who was snorkeling with friends in 18m of water with a weightbelt, may have blacked out and been swept away by the strong current. "There are a lot of tiger sharks in the area," Inspector Ian Fitzsimmons, of Tweed-Byron police said. "They were in 18m of water and they knew what they were doing so you'd have to assume the worst." The diver was in a party of three men who were spearfishing on Fido's Reef, about 300m east of Cook Island, off Fingal. They had been out since 6am and were making their last dive about 11.30am when the man failed to surface. "His speargun came to the surface but he has not been sighted since," Insp Fitzsimmons said. An air and sea search involving the Point Danger Volunteer Marine Rescue, Westpac lifesaver helicopter and private divers failed to find any trace of the man. The search was called off after a 35-knot southeasterly wind change made conditions too treacherous. Police divers are expected to continue the search today. The man's diving companions handed his speargun to police for examination but refused to speak to media. Shaun Davis, of the Australian Dive Institute which was involved in the search, speculated that the man may have hyperventilated and blacked out as he tried to dive in water which was too deep. "He's just gone beyond his limits, basically," Mr Davis said. "Putting two and two together, he's just blacked out and not come up."
Missing diver search abandoned February 17, 2004 AUTHORITIES have abandoned their search for a missing diver who may have been taken by a shark off the NSW far north coast. The 31-year-old diver from Currumbin Waters in Queensland was on a spear fishing trip with two friends to a reef off Tweed Heads when he failed to surface yesterday. A rescue helicopter, volunteer marine rescue boats and other dive boats were involved in a search for the man yesterday. Several large sharks including tiger sharks were sighted in the area. The missing man's spear gun was retrieved with a fish on it, leading to speculation the bleeding fish may have attracted a shark. Police today said the search would not resume this morning because of poor weather conditions. There had been a five to six knot southerly current overnight so anything in the area would have moved downstream, a police spokeswoman said. "Relatives of the missing person have been informed," she said. "Police inquiries are continuing ... but there will be no search recommenced."
More links of interest
Swimming with sharks
International Shark Attack File


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