I've always made a point of telling people not to poke the wobbegongs -
however placid they might seem - because they can get ratty and quickly turn
around and latch on to their annoyer.  Being tenacious critters they don't
let go easily - and nothing gives diving such a bad image as exiting the
water with a shark attached to your shoulder while you're punching it to
make it let go!  :-)

The following is a news report of just such an incident. :-)

Strike



The Last Laugh
Shark Bites Man, But Man Bites Back - Eventually


April 10 - Swimmers at a Sydney rock pool were treated to an unusual
sight this week - a man emerging from the surf with a shark dangling
from his arm.

Russian immigrant Andranik Markossian had been snorkeling at local
Bronte beach Sunday when the yard-long shark nearly swam into him,
turning just inches away from his mask.

Markossian thought it was just a fish, so he reached out and touched
its tail. But when he did, it spun around again and bit him on the
arm.

Markossian, in turn, kept his grip on the tail, "because I thought,
'If I let go, it will bite me more'," he told Australia's Sydney
Morning Herald.

With the two locked in a bizarre embrace, Markossian decided to walk
to shore, where he would have a better chance of getting the shark to
release itself.

A Good Meal

When Markossian got on shore, the shark still refused to relinquish
its grip. With shock starting to set in, he lay down. Fortunately,
his partner Marina Godess, saw him.

"When I first saw it I thought that he was just showing me a fish and
showing off," she told the Herald. "But when he was on the beach and
I realized what it was, I was more scared than he was."

After five minutes of trying to pry open the shark's jaws, a
lifeguard finally cut off its head. "It looked like it was a really
good bite, it got on real tight," lifeguard Mark McEvoy told The
Associated Press.

Markossian will have a permanent scar on his right forearm from the
shark bite, but he required no stitches and was discharged from the
hospital a few hours after the attack.

Markossian says the attack won't stop him from swimming, but regrets
the shark had to die. "If they could have removed it without cutting
the head off, I would have preferred it," he told the Herald. "All
animals are our friends. I would say this shark was just unlucky."

Markossian's family, meanwhile probably doesn't regret the death.
After lifeguards removed the shark, he asked to keep it - and served
the fillets to his family for dinner.

Popular Site With Sharks and Men
Markossian's shark attack apparently hasn't deterred many people from
swimming at the popular Bronte rockfaces.

Locals were back there today, and divers say there are hundreds of
such sharks in the area.

Swimmer Val Tomlin told APTN, "if you're going to swim in the ocean
you have to take that risk."

The manager of the Australian Shark Attack File at Australia's
Taronga Zoo, John West, identified the shark as a wobbegong, and told
the Herald that the species is known to be aggressive and territorial.

They have attacked frequently, but never fatally, West said.

Other reports have said it was a Port Jackson shark.

Rodd Stapley, of the Sydney Aquarium told APTN, "They react very
quickly and they just bite. We've had divers been bitten by them and
you actually have to pry the jaws open."