Shark attack at Yarrawonga Park

SHORELINE residents where a man was bitten by a shark at Yarrawonga Park near Morisset on Saturday evening say they are shocked at the attack.

Various neighbours told how they were relaxing on Saturday evening at about 6.15pm when the still quiet was shattered by screams for help from the man's wife, who had been swimming with him when he was hit by the shark.

"We heard calls of 'help' and to 'ring an ambulance', one woman told the Newcastle Herald.

Neighbours said the man and his wife had been swimming near some small boats anchored off the shore at Yarrawonga Park, which faces back west across Bonnells Bay towards Lake Eraring and the Eraring power station.

They said his wife helped him to shore, holding his arm up, as people raced to the water's edge from the nearby houses on the other side of the 100 foot (30-metre) waterfront reserve.

Someone brought a belt to use as a tourniquet.

The man and his wife are understood to have previously lived near where the attack took place, and still returned from time to time to visit and to swim, as was the case on Saturday.

They said the shark had latched on to one arm and had torn deeply into the flesh and tendon before letting go and swimming away.

Most of the damage was below the elbow but one witness said it was so bad the man would be lucky if surgeons could save the bottom half of his arm.

The residents told how they were relaxing on Saturday evening at about 6.15pm when the still quiet was shattered by screams for help from the man's wife, who had been swimming with him when he was hit by the shark.

The man and his wife are understood to have previously lived near where the attack took place, and still returned from time to time to visit and to swim, as was the case on Saturday.

They said the shark had latched on to one arm and had torn deeply into the flesh and tendon before letting go and swimming away.

Most of the damage was below the elbow but one witness said it was so bad his friend would be lucky if surgeons could save the bottom half of his arm.

The Herald spoke to various residents along the peaceful strip, which contains a mixture of holiday houses and permanent residences.

One neighbour had lived there for more than 30 years and visited before that and said he had never seen a shark in that time.

"Until yesterday, I was a shark sceptic," the man said.

Asked what he meant by "sceptic" he said: "I knew they were in the other side of the lake, up at Pulbah Island, but I didn't believe they were down here, until now."

Other residents with decades of lake-watching between them were similarly stunned.

"We see lots of dolphins here, but not sharks," one woman said.

Although news of the attack had been widely broadcast, people were prepared to swim in the area yesterday.

While the police said they were working with Fisheries officials to determine the type of shark, most people believed a bull shark was responsible, although this was based on reputation rather than anything they saw.

One man who was quickly on the scene said he "might have seen a fin out of the corner of my eye, peripheral vision, but I'm not sure'.

"In that situation your concentration is on the person, not the surroundings," he said.