ATTACKED BY SHARK

Taranaki Daily News, 21 July 1933, Page 9

ATTACKED BY SHARK

DIVER’S EXCITING THRILL. HOLE BITTEN IN SUIT. Attacked by a shark while walking on the sea bottom, near Broome, Western Australia, recently, searching for pearl shell, a diver had an exciting experience. Preparatory to coming to the surface after being down some time, the- diver closed his helmet valve, thus inflating his suit. It was then that the monster made a dive at him, and bit a large hole in the heavy diving suit. The outrush of air frightened the shark, and it made off. Giving the S.O.S. signal, the diver was immediately hauled to the surface. An expert explains that when the shark bit away portion of the diver’s suit and allowed the air to escape, the pressure of air still being pumped through the top of the helmet, would be sufficient to prevent the water reaching the diver’s nostrils during the minute or so necessary to haul him to the surface. No cases of such attacks near the eastern shores of Australia have been reported. It is generally thought that the exhaust air bubbles frighten the sharks away.