Grandfather describes how he fought off shark by punching it in head
A grandfather has described how he fought off a massive shark by punching it in the head.
Robert Crossland, 69, was swimming at Lorne Beach on Friday when he came face to face with big trouble.
"First thing I saw the fin, just circled around me. And then it came straight at me," Mr Crossland said.
The Lorne local, known as Robbo, was 100 metres offshore.
He says his bright pink shorts and right hook scared what may have been a white pointer.
"[I] punched it, I was just treading water waiting for it each time, six or seven times. Just punched it each time. It swam around came back and I was waiting for the jaw to open. "
Thankfully it didn't and Robbo is now a local legend.
One beachgoer told 7 News, "It must have been a good punch."
Another said, " He's pretty brave to do that... very brave."
It is Robbo's second brush with danger in these waters. Surf lifesavers plucked him to safety 18months ago when another large shark was circling.
"Last Summer we saw a lot of bronze whalers and a few white sharks as well. Any shark that's described as 3.5 metres in size definitely poses a threat," Greg Scott from Lifesaving Victoria said.
Lorne Beach has reopened after Robbo's ordeal with aerial spotters on high alert.
Hours earlier surfer Lachie Brown had a close encounter with a bronze whaler near Bells Beach.
"I saw its teeth and its eyes and all that," Mr Brown told 7 News.
