Queenslander escapes four-metre tiger shark that attacked his kayak

A kayaker has been sent flying after a four-metre tiger shark rammed and then sank its teeth into his tiny craft on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

The man, aged in his 30s, was fishing from his kayak off Moffat beach on Thursday morning when he was flung into the water, surfacing to find the shark with its jaws still clamped around one end.

The man managed to right his craft, which was upside down, allowing him to climb back on but he was in a perilous situation, with the kayak taking on water and the shark circling nearby.

Rescuers believe he only lived to tell his tale because he had a radio with him and was able to contact the coast guard for help.

“He was having a paddle out to sea, and fishing, and yeah unfortunately out of the blue a shark has just attacked his kayak and latched on to it, throwing him out,” one of the rescuers, Jacob Thomson from Surf Life Saving Queensland said.

“The shark still had its jaw on his kayak, which was upside down. But he’s managed to flip it and at some point the shark has let go.

“But it was starting to sink, there was only small pocket of air holding it afloat. The shark continued to circle him for some time until we got there.”

Two jet skiers brought the shocked paddler back to shore, about 45 minutes after he called for help.

Thomson was the one who spotted the paddler, using a pair of binoculars to scour the sea from his vantage point on Moffat headland. But for a while, he feared he wouldn’t.

“He was a long way out. The sun was beaming on the water and I was really struggling to find him. But I managed to spot him, a little speck floating up and down. It wasn’t easy.”

Thomson said the paddler was checked by paramedics after he returned to shore, and was fine, other than feeling a little rattled.

“It’s lucky he had that radio with him, otherwise I think we’d be talking about something different this morning.”