Stab Magazine | It Never Ends: Another Shark Attack In Ballina

Live Now — Episode 3 Of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico

460 Views

It Never Ends: Another Shark Attack In Ballina

Surfer taken to hospital with minor injuries after another attack at Sharpes Beach, Ballina. 

news // Oct 12, 2016
Words by Stab
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Another surfer has been injured in a shark attack while surfing Sharpes Beach in the now-notorious Ballina region.

Witness Scott Crump, who was surfing nearby, heard the victim “yell out” before rushing to shore to help.

“I just heard him yell out,” he told Stab via Facebook. “Really gnarly, and we all headed in. He got to the beach on his own. He was very coherent.”

“He was hit but it looked like maybe just one tooth got him on the shin. Probably five to 10 stitches by looking at it after it cleared… fucken lucky. Judging by the bite on the fin cluster and what the guy said, (it) was a good-sized shark. Not massive, but.”

14695357 10153956441295382 3694033343633093484 n

According to Crump, a large pod of dolphins had passed through the area just prior to the attack.

“So much for them being a saviour,” he said.

The attack is the seventh in the area stretching from Evans Head to Byron Bay since September 2014, including two fatalities. It comes just 16 days after local teenager Cooper Allen was bitten on the upper thigh while surfing nearby Lighthouse Beach, also in Ballina.

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Expect No Kiss, All Climax At The “World’s Most Perfect Pointbreak”

A Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025 preview.

Jul 9, 2025

SEOTY: Liam O’Brien stars in ‘Friction of Perception’

"Hopefully I don’t come across like too much of a peanut."

Jul 8, 2025

10 Shapers To Watch In The Next 10 Years — Part One

“It’s like a drug empire, man. Cut the head off the snakes, and more will…

Jul 7, 2025

Mason Ho Joins Ritual Vision, Releases Remix Of Greatest Hits

Dion Agius riffs on the eyewear brand’s U.S. expansion, Ritualistic Tendencies, and the new stars…

Jul 7, 2025

Is It Time For A New Judging Format?

We have a modest proposal — a WSL head judge disagrees.

Jul 7, 2025

Luke Thompson Turns Last Year’s Priority Disaster Into Ballito Gold

+ earns himself a wildcard into Jbay.

Jul 7, 2025

Fiji Has Its First Professional Surfer, And He’s Unbelievable

16-year-old James Kusitino’s incomprehensible tube lounging leads to a deal with Former.

Jul 6, 2025

Laird Hamilton on The Limitations of Being a Purist, Invention vs. Ownership + Why He Never Had a Sticker Deal 

Untold stories from his How Surfers Get Paid interview.

Jul 4, 2025

Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico: Episode 3

"The tribe has spoken," Dane Reynolds pronounced, and a surfer's torch was snuffed.

Jul 3, 2025

When Surfer’s Eye Is Actually Cancer

Erin Campbell's brutal journey from surf camp dreams to chemo drops, cryotherapy, and surgical horror.

Jul 3, 2025

Surfing’s 2025 Q2 Report

An assessment of surfing's vital signs throughout the second quarter of 2025.

Jul 2, 2025

What Actually Happened to Occy’s Mad Max Plunger Pool In Yeppoon?

Surf Lakes’ brass talks: internet hecklers, the unplugging of the plunger, and the Tom Curren…

Jul 2, 2025

Poor Goofy Foots 

Data shows that the world is stacked against goofs — they even make 15% less money than…

Jul 1, 2025

Britain’s First Wavepool Has Closed — What Really Happened?

Bankruptcy, social media hackings, debts unpaid — and yet, reopening looms.

Jul 1, 2025

Watch: Was Matt Meola’s Air Actually Better Than Hughie’s?

Watch the full Swatch Nines highlight reel and decide.

Jun 30, 2025

Houshmand Bludgeons Field To Win Second CT — Molly Picklum Tastes Blood, Snatches World #1 In Brazil

You can't argue with big surfing — that's Saquarema wrapped.

Jun 29, 2025

37 Years Old And World #1 — What’s Changed For Jordy Smith?

On rediscovering decades old surfboard templates, having a personality on the CT, and why this…

Jun 27, 2025

Tom Lowe Stars in ‘Let Me Live’

The wild, improbable ascent of Britain’s best big-wave surfer.

Jun 27, 2025
Advertisement