Spring danger time: victim

Almost exactly a year ago, Greg Pickering was fighting for his life against a great white shark off Esperance.

Yesterday, he expressed his sense of sad inevitability at news of another serious attack in the area, saying he recently told friends he feared someone would be bitten in the near future.

Mr Pickering still bears scars from where the 5m shark took hold of his head on October 8 last year while he was diving for abalone about 160km east of Esperance.

His survival was miraculous. He needed surgery to remove the shark's tooth from his eye and dozens of stitches to close cuts to his head, back and shoulders.

On December 2, 2006, Zac Golebiowski, a 15-year-old surfer, lost his leg to a great white about 70km east of Esperance.

Mr Pickering, who will use a shark cage when he returns to Esperance this month as an abalone diver, said late spring was becoming too dangerous to get in the water without protection.

"October and November are the two worst months. Abalone divers are aware of it. You see the sharks at other times but this is the main time," he said.

"I have been saying to people the past few weeks that it was only a matter of time, someone is going to get bitten soon. I feel sorry for whoever this person was.

"I would be staying out of the water at this time of year. I would not recommend you go swimming without an enclosure."

Mr Pickering survived a shark attack 10 years ago when a 1.5m bronze whaler bit his leg off Cervantes.

He still dives recreationally and went back to his long abalone diving career in May, off Port Lincoln in South Australia.

But since the attack, he decided to work only from within a shark cage.

"Most people are using them now," Mr Pickering said.

"I have been doing this for 34 years and I always thought I would see the shark but that one, I didn't see and it got me. You can be looking and still not see anything.

"It is probably likely that I will see one (a great white) again in the next couple of months but I hope not."

Mr Pickering sees a case for more signs warning oceangoers about a heightened risk of shark attack in spring but it was ultimately a personal choice to enter the water.

"It is just this time of year," he said. "The seals are having pups and there are whales all along there. There are always going to be white sharks along that coast.

"Everyone has to make their own minds up about going in."