Shark Knocks Surfer From Board At Injidup in Australia’s South West

A surfer at the world-class Injidup beach break in Yallingup has been smashed from below so hard by a shark it snapped his board in half. Fraser Penman, from Perth, was knocked off his board before his younger brother Logan intervened by paddling to his aid and yelling “punch it” as he handed him his board to paddle in on. The pair were unharmed with Fraser later giving credit to his brother’s courage in a Facebook post.

“Scariest moment of my life, yet walked away intact with nothing but a smashed board,” he wrote. “The biggest thank you to my lil brother Logan for instantly paddling across yelling ‘punch it’ and throwing me his board – saving my life. That takes a hell of a lot of courage and so much love. I am truly lucky to have you.”

Stab can reveal it is the second close call in the area in as many weeks. Two surfers were forced to flee the lineup at nearby spot, The Point, after a shark cruised beneath them that was so big they thought it was a whale.

“A huge one went under them,” says Margaret River Pro Surfer, Jerome Forrest, who was surfing in the same area with Creed McTaggart and Jay Davies on Saturday, the eve of the attack. “They thought it was a whale but as it went through them it went side to side and they saw the fins. Luckily there was a set so they caught that and scrambled to shore.”

The water temperature in the area has been unseasonably cold of late, plunging down to 15 degrees, two less than the average. It’s been a mostly quiet winter for shark sightings in the south-west, though there were reports of a six-metre Great White lurking around the Boat Ramp surf spot in nearby Augusta.

Funding for the Westpac Shark-Spotting Helicopter program, meanwhile, was controversially withdrawn recently for the Margaret River-Yallingup-South-West region. Jerome, whose good friend and promising surfer, Ben Gerring, was killed in an attack at Mandurah (two hours north) in June, says given the popularity of their hometown among both locals and surfers from Perth, they should look at reinstating the fly-overs.

The dilemma that presents itself. Image: Instagram (@peterjovicphotography)

“Delroy has seen a bunch (at Injidup) before and called people out of the water,” he says, referring to a friend of his who operated a helicopter in the shark-spotting service. “Now that they pulled the funding for the helicopter down here, it will be heavy if something does happen.

“It’s one of the most popular waves down here, especially for people from Perth… a lot of kids, a lot of girls, a lot of older crew, everyone. It is gnarly if it is hanging around and they get in back,” he says, though adds it won’t be enough to keep him and the rest of the die-hards away.

“It’s got that sharky feel out there in that big bay, but I’ll surf there again for sure. Though, not anytime soon.”