A man who suffered a serious shark bite while scuba diving near Tonga is being treated in hospital in Nuku'alofa after being rescued by the New Zealand Navy ship Resolution.
The 69-year-old New Zealand-based South African, who wanted to be known only as Christian, arrived in Nuku'alofa about 2.30 am yesterday, said the Resolution's commanding officer, Commander Andrew Watts.
Christian, who was crewing on the New Zealand-skippered yacht Donella, was attacked off the South Minerva Reef, 450km south of the main islands of Tonga, on Thursday afternoon.
He suffered an extensive wound to the underside of his left arm and lost a lot of blood in the attack, by what he said was a grey Galapagos shark.
"A big chunk was taken out, plus deep gashes down to the bone and more on top of the hand. Unfortunately, some of the flesh is missing ... and there are some gashes and injuries where I tried to fight it off and hit it with my right hand."
Navy divers were able to retrieve Christian's watch, bitten off his wrist by the shark, from 18m of water.
Commander Watts said: "The guys in the boat found it in 60ft of water and were able to dive down and get it. The shark spat it out."
Resolution was sent to rescue Christian because it was the closest ship with trained medical staff on board.
Christian enjoyed lunch on Resolution and had a tour of the bridge, Commander Watts said.
"He's very cheerful. The outlook as far as we know is pretty good. He's certainly not in any danger."
Christian was met in Nuku'alofa by his daughter, who flew from New Zealand on Saturday.
- NZPA
Navy to rescue after shark attack
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