Kayaker swims for his life as shark circles him in waters off Queensland coast

A fisherman on a kayak had to swim for his life when a shark attacked sending him flying into the water off the coast of Queensland today.

Kyle Roberts was hurled several feet into the ocean when the 12-foot tiger shark sank its teeth into the kayak, about a mile off Moffat Beach on Australia’s Sunshine coast.

Luckily an air bubble kept the front of the kayak afloat while the terrified fisherman alerted rescuers on his two-way radio.

By the time two lifesavers on jet skis reached the fisherman the shark was still circling the kayak but eventually swam away.

Mr Roberts, 31, was treated for shock but was not hurt.

Surf Life Saving Queensland (SLSQ) duty officer David McLean said: “There was no blood in the water — nothing else to attract any sharks — just came out of the blue, completely broadsided him, and as he stated, he’s very lucky to be here.”

“He said the shark didn’t make any physical contact with him, but it did make a second lunge at him after biting his craft, and it just missed him fortunately.

“When he swam back to it (the kayak), the shark was still holding onto his kayak, then let go, then did another lunge, and that lunge missed him and landed beside the kayak.”

Fellow surf lifesaver Jacob Thomson said they had difficulty finding him at first.

“He was quite a significant distance out to sea.

“I was on the headland with some binoculars and directed our jet skis over to him as best we could,” he added.

Mr Thomson described it as a random attack but an unbelievable experience for the kayaker.

A spokesman for Surf Life Saving Queensland praised his members for performing “an amazing and dramatic rescue.”

Speaking to The Courier Mail, Mr Roberts said the conditions had been relatively calm and there was “zero warning” of the attack.

“I have had a very lucky day, that’s for sure,” Mr Roberts said.

Mr McLean said while Mr Roberts was waiting for help “he was starting to panic, especially when the shark was starting to circle him”.

“He would have been through a fair state of panic and that was evident in his voice when he was talking on the radio,” he said.

It was the seventh major shark attack in Australian waters in eight weeks, prompting calls for tougher action, including culling.

In one of the attacks, urologist Daniel Christidis, 33, was killed after being mauled by a shark on the first day of a yachting holiday he was on with family and friends.