A 20 year-old surfer from Newlands, Cape Town, was attacked by a shark today and suffered multiple lacerations.
The man, who was taken to hospital in a stable condition after having been assisted by a member of the public who used the leash from the surf board to act as a tourniquet to stem the flow of blood from the surfer’s wounds .
The incident happened before 2 pm today while the man, originally from Durban, had been surfing off-shore of the Pavilion, Muizenberg Beach.
The NSRI Simonstown volunteer sea rescue duty crew and CMR (Cape Medical Response) were activated at 2.07 pm today following reports of a man bitten by a shark, a press release from the NSRI H/O said.
NSRI Simonstown volunteers, CMR paramedics and a CMR ambulance, the SA Police Services, WC Government Health EMS, City of Cape Town Law Enforcement, Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services and the Red Cross AMS Skymed helicopter responded. NSRI Strandfontein were placed on alert.
The man was reported to have been assisted out of the water by a friend and then a tourniquet was applied to his limbs. The man was airlifted by the Skymed helicopter to hospital for further treatment.
At the time of the incident the Shark Spotters were flying the Black Shark Flag (indicating poor water and weather visibility conditions – a misty haze). Bystanders told the shark spotters they had seen a shark fin in the water.
The shark attack occurred while a siren was going off to alert swimmers and surfers to get out of the sea
Shark Spotters and Law Enforcement officers have closed Muizenberg Beach and bathers and surfers along the False Bay coastline are urged to exercise caution.
The species of shark involved has been confirmed by the bite marks to have been a White Shark. Eye-witness accounts suggest the shark to have been between 3-4 meters in length, but this has not been confirmed.
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