Surfer recalls his 'Mick Fanning moment' with great white shark
A WA surfer has recalled his own Mick Fanning moment after coming face to face with a great white shark.
Greg Cartledge was surfing at Guillotines, north of Gracetown, with seven others on Thursday when he saw the shark approach fellow surfer John Norton.
“I noticed a big apex dorsal fin thing pointing directly at the surfer,” Mr Cartledge said.
“It seemed to be its nose on his surfboard, facing towards him, and its tail just thrashing around.”
He added the shark seemed to be “almost” circling Mr Norton.
Mr Norton said he felt a “shunt from behind” as the shark “well over two metres long” swam around the side of him.
He’s also positive it was a great white but he managed to stay on his board and paddle to safety along with the other surfers.
Mr Cartledge said it reminded him of Fanning’s infamous run-in with a white pointer.
“Just by luck that shark decided not to have a bite of him,” Mr Cartledge said.
Guillotines is set to be covered by a drumline next year as part of a rollout.
At the moment, if a surfer or swimmer is attacked by a shark in the area it’s a 30-minute drive to Margaret River down a long, rough 4WD track.
Despite the shark’s appearance, surfers were back in the water on Friday – but Mr Cartledge and Mr Norton weren’t with them.
