“I was punching it and kicking it, and I think it was trying to do the same back to me because was tangled up in my tangled up in my leg rope.
“And then it broke free, and I just jumped up onto my sail, which is inflatable, parts of it, just to get out of the water, get my limbs out of the water, and pray that it didn’t come back.”
After jumping up onto his inflatable sail and clambering back on his board, McDonald paddled back to shore with a friend, which he estimated took about 15 minutes.
Vision of the board on the back of McDonald’s car shows a huge shark bite mark, with part of the board missing.
The keen wind and kite surfer moved to the South West surfing hotspot from Melbourne in 2003, and said he had rarely seen a shark in all that time.
However, while he admitted Monday’s close encounter would “play on my mind for a little while”, it ultimately wouldn’t stop him going back out into the ocean.
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“You know, for years I’ve always felt very safe in that area,” he said.
“It won’t stop me. I’ll probably go tomorrow – not today. With another board.”
The encounter was reported to the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, with the alert claiming the great white shark was around 50 metres offshore.
“At approximately 5.45pm, a reported white shark bit a foil board causing the rider to fall into the water. The rider was not injured,” the alert read.
“The rider was located between Boat Ramp Surfing Spot and Bombie Surfing Spot at the time of the interaction.”
Fisheries are monitoring the situation and are advising water users to take additional caution in the Prevelly area.
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