Diver attacked by shark off Perth beach

PERTH - A Perth diver has told how a white pointer shark "chomped" on his arm before the monster took him for a terrifyingly brief "ride".

Bernie Williams, 46, was bitten on the left elbow after the predator grabbed him from behind as he was scuba diving about 3km offshore from City Beach.

The attack happened at about 11am (3pm NZ time) yesterday.

Mr Williams fought off the three- to 3.5-metre white pointer by striking it with his spear gun.

The electrician, an experienced diver, told how he was diving with two friends when the shark appeared from nowhere.

"It just came out on my left hand side from below," Mr Williams, of the northern Perth beachside suburb of Sorrento, told Network Ten.

"I never even saw it coming.

"(It) chomped on my arm (and) took me for a ride for about two metres."

The father of three said that as soon as he spotted the shark he stabbed it in the nose with his spear gun.

"It was just like hitting a lump of steel," Mr Williams said from Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital where he is recovering.

He said his first instinct had been to hide among a reef and search for his friends and his boat.

Meanwhile, two fishermen, who had also seen the white pointer before it attacked, had raised the alarm.

"They advised Water Police that there was a dive vessel nearby with a flag up and there was nobody on board," a Fisheries spokesman said.

"The Water Police requested that they go over the general vicinity and rev the engine of the boat to attract the attention of the people under water."

A short time later Mr Williams surfaced - he had already been attacked.

It was believed he had separated from the other divers at the time of the attack, said the Fisheries spokesman.

"One of the other divers apparently had some sort of a shark shield device - a commercial shark repellant - and that may have helped them in the process of them getting back on board safely," the spokesman said.

Surf Life Savers plucked Mr Williams from the water and raced him to shore in an inflatable rescue boat. He was taken to hospital by ambulance.

"He was walking and talking," a lifesaver said.

The shark patrol aircraft and a Fisheries and police vessel immediately began searching for the shark but there was no sighting.

The beach remained open and swimmers were not told of the attack.

There have been three shark fatalities in Western Australia since 2000.

In 2000, Perth businessman Ken Crew, 49, died after his leg was ripped off by what was believed to be a white pointer up to four metres long off Cottesloe Beach.

In July 2004, Brad Smith, 30, died after being attacked by a shark while surfing at Gracetown, about 270 km south-west of Perth.

In March last year, 26-year-old Geoffrey Brazier was killed by a six-metre shark while snorkelling off the Abrolhos Islands, 60 km west of Geraldton.

Mr Williams reckons the white pointer was the biggest shark he had ever seen.

"I've dived Perth waters for the best part of 20 years and this is the first time I've seen any shark larger than a metre," he said, adding that the attack would not stop him diving in the future.

- AAP