Oliver Tokic-Bensley, a 16-year-old surfer, recounted an alarming incident that occurred at Middleton Beach during the Easter weekend, where he was bitten on the foot by a shark. He suspects the predator may have been a bronze whaler shark.<\/p>\n
Feeling fortunate to have his foot intact, Oliver described the moment of the attack, which took place on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia on Friday afternoon. He mentioned that he was alone on his surfboard when he suddenly felt a sharp sensation on his foot.<\/p>\n
“I felt something sharp \u2026 I sort of jumped when it got me and then I kicked my foot away and luckily it didn’t hold onto me,” he shared with ABC News. In that brief moment, he feared the worst, thinking, “oh sh** it might come back and bite me somewhere else,” as he saw a fin appear in front of him.<\/p>\n
Presuming it was a bronze whaler based on the color of the fin, Oliver paddled nervously back to shore, covering a distance of approximately 70 to 100 meters. “I thought it was going to come back and bite me again,” he expressed, hoping it wasn’t following him.<\/p>\n
Upon reaching the beach, he contacted his sister, prompting his parents to come down to check on him. The family, who were vacationing in the area for the Easter holiday, were understandably surprised by the incident. “They [my parents] were pretty shocked,” he recalled, adding that he took some photos to share with his friends.<\/p>\n
Although the bite was not severe enough to warrant an ambulance, he decided to visit a hospital. “They cleaned it out [the bite] and just bandaged me up,” he explained, noting that the size of the bite suggested the shark was between 1.5 to 2 meters long. He did not require any stitches.<\/p>\n
Despite his experience, Oliver remains unfazed by the prospect of encountering sharks while surfing. He expressed his determination to continue surfing once he recovers, stating, “It’s all part of it; I went in there knowing there was a chance [I’d get bitten by a shark]. It’s worth the risk.” He added that the incident made his Easter weekend somewhat memorable, saying, “Yeah nah, it was pretty exciting.”<\/p>\n
In response to the incident, South Australian Police confirmed they had received a report regarding the shark bite at Middleton. Anton Covino, the founder of Shark Watch SA, examined the bite mark on Oliver’s ankle and suggested it likely came from a juvenile shark. He noted, “We’re not entirely sure [what shark it was] if you look at the bite mark on his ankle it even looks like he stepped on some rocks or a reef. There’s no real clear indication that there is a jaw around his ankle \u2026 but judging by the teeth marks, we can’t say what shark it is entirely.” Covino also advised beachgoers to avoid swimming at dawn or dusk to minimize the risk of shark encounters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Oliver Tokic-Bensley, a 16-year-old surfer, recounted an alarming incident that occurred at Middleton Beach during the Easter weekend, where he was bitten on the foot by a shark. He suspects the predator may have been a bronze whaler shark. Feeling fortunate to have his foot intact, Oliver described the moment of the attack, which took […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[518,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animal-attacks","category-australia"],"yoast_head":"\n