Had an interesting encounter with a large (about 2M) Grey Nurse shark yesterday.
Was alone waiting for a wave at my local point break and the big fella cruised right up to within an inch of my paddle then swiftly did a quick U Turn with a good tail flick and splash at me.

Never seen a shark whilst surfing before and was surprised it came up so close.
Not sure if it was trying to give me a scare or mistook my paddle for food.

Local swimmers have reported seeing it a lot recently so was half expecting to see it but didn't think it would behave like that as they are supposed very placid & not considered dangerous. (To humans anyway).

I knew it was a Grey Nurse due to the long whippy tail so kept on surfing but felt a bit uneasy as in the back of my mind was thinking maybe it was a different species.

Got a few waves & and amazingly didn't fall in for a change.
Went home with a dry wetsuit.

Great story!

So lucky to see a grey nurse in the wild. I just did a quick bit of research as I was aware that their population was low, but did not realise that they are critically endangered and were the first shark to be protected.

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shi thouse said..
Great story!

So lucky to see a grey nurse in the wild. I just did a quick bit of research as I was aware that their population was low, but did not realise that they are critically endangered and were the first shark to be protected.

I do feel lucky to see one at close quarters but keep wondering if I might have had a different story to tell if I was on a prone board with arms & legs in the water.
There have been some incidents of them biting.

Yes advantage of seeing so more when standing up and nothing in water.
In summer there are small sharks around and before sup when prone surfing, when a little choppy you sense a fin around but soon forget about it after catching a wave.
Had one experience windsurfing when blasting around and see a white line in the water coming towards me but to the side. A couple of runs later and closer I saw the shark (2m) roll over look at me. Yes came in after.

hi Xurfxup
I hope it was a nurse,tiger sharks will get up close and personal as a warning to get out of their territory.they turn on their side and give you that dead looking evil black eye look.Grey nurse are an endangered species.they were placid and spear fishers,used to hit them with power heads just to prove they had balls.there used to be a colony at the Julian rocks (Byron Bay)but they were hunted to extinction.

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Fitzsup said..
hi Xurfxup
I hope it was a nurse,tiger sharks will get up close and personal as a warning to get out of their territory.they turn on their side and give you that dead looking evil black eye look.Grey nurse are an endangered species.they were placid and spear fishers,used to hit them with power heads just to prove they had balls.there used to be a colony at the Julian rocks (Byron Bay)but they were hunted to extinction.

Hi Fitz.

Pretty sure it was a Grey Nurse - we have a colony of them at Terrigal.
The local swimmers call him Kevin.
It didn't eyeball me but I'm thinking it was a warning gesture.
I wasn't too worried about it due to their reputation but thought it was unusual for it to show itself like that.
Will consider myself lucky and fortunate for it to show me he was there.
I'm guessing if it wanted a bite I probably wouldn't have seen it coming.

Hi Fitz, agree when you see that black eye looking at you
Hi Xurfxup, hopefully only the grey nurse.
I am sometimes the only one out on the local reef but get a mate out there with you.