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Shark savaged brave fisherman who punched ferocious beast in the face and swam away bleeding
A FISHERMAN narrowly escaped with his life after punching a ferocious shark in the face when it attacked him.
Jackson Howson swam away bleeding after being savaged by the beast in waters off Coral Bay, in Western Australia.
Jackson Howson was bitten by a shark while fishing in Western Australia[/caption]
The fisherman posted a picture of the bite on social media[/caption]
He was fishing off the coast with his girlfriend on Saturday when the prowling shark went for the same fish he had just speared.
The angered shark attacked Mr Howson, who punched the beast in desperation and frantically swam the 100m back to his boat where his partner was.
It left Mr Howson – who is in his 20s – with a horrifying 8cm bite wound on his leg from the predator – believed to be either a whaler or bull shark, which is considered by experts to be the most dangerous shark in the world.
Following his lucky escape, he posted pictures of the injury to his leg on social media from hospital, adding that he was in “good spirits”.
He is now recovering from surgery in Perth Royal Hospital.
One witness, Nick Hardie told the West Australian of the moment he rushed to aid Mr Howson following the freak incident.
“We saw this white boat come rushing up to us and we were a bit confused,” he said.
Mr Howson had speared the same fish the shark was after when he got attacked[/caption]
ABOUT BULL SHARKS
Due to their aggressive nature, experts consider bull sharks to be the most dangerous of sharks in the world, according to National Geographic.
The predators – which can grow up to 11.5ft – can often be found cruising shallow waters in search of prey.
Bull sharks are joined by their more famous cousins, great whites and tiger sharks, as the three species most likely to attack humans.
As fast and agile hunters, they will eat almost anything in sight – including fish, dolphins and even other sharks.
The name bull shark comes from their tendency to headbutt prey before attacking and their short, blunt snouts.
Bull sharks live an average for 16 years and can weigh up to 500 pounds.
The aggressive predators tend to live near high-population areas such as tropical shorelines.
“We saw that a guy was sitting in the floor of the boat and there was blood all over the boat.
“We followed them into the boat ramp and then parked up next to them and I jumped on their boat.
“She (Mr Howson’s girlfriend) was a bit nervous and didn’t really know how to drive it and he was on the floor, so I parked the boat up against the jetty at the boat ramp.”
Mr Hardie says he drove the boat to shore, where paramedics treated Mr Howson for his injuries.
In December, a man got the fright of his life when he reportedly spotted a bull shark prowling by his back fence after flash flooding wreaked havoc in Queensland.
It came just days after a massive 16ft great white shark was captured and tagged by marine experts.
The dramatic scenes were filmed just off the coast of Cottesloe Beach in Perth – with swimmers ordered to exit the water immediately.
Mr Howson is recovering in hospital after having surgery[/caption]
Last year, eight men – aged between 17 and 60 – were all been killed by sharks while in the water off the coast of Australia.
The country recorded its highest figures for fatal attacks for almost 100 years in 2020.
Scientists speculated shifting hunting grounds, the weather, staycations and overfishing all may have played a role in the spike.
Just a handful of people are killed by sharks every year, with attacks usually happening in Australia, the United States and South Africa.
The horror attacks appear to be becoming more deadly, with just two deaths from 64 attacks worldwide in 2019.
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This puts the fatality rate at three per cent, while the ten deaths from 69 attacks globally is a death rate of 14.5 per cent in 2020.
In November, dad-of-three Charles Cernobori, 59, who was killed on Sunday by a 12ft shark Cable Beach in Broome, Western Australia.
The grandfather-of-four had been bodyboarding some 30 metres off the iconic tourist beach when he was attacked.
