KEY POINTS:
Abalone divers are today heading back into southern NSW waters where a three-metre white pointer attacked a diver, saying the incident won't stop them from working.
Eric Nerhus, who it's understood signed a deal with a commercial television station this morning to recount his amazing ordeal, is recovering from a broken nose, cuts and bruises in Wollongong Hospital.
John Smythe, an abalone fisherman from the tight-knit Eden diving community, said divers would be taking extra precaution but the attack would not stop them from diving today.
"I think it (the shark attack) will make people think, but I don't think it will make people suddenly walk off the job," Mr Smythe told ABC Radio.
"We're in their (the sharks') domain and you have to respect that. We do take precautions, if you are diving in spots like Cape Howe ... your boat will be sitting directly above you and when you do your ascents and descends you'd be looking.
"So to put it in perspective, you can make your diving a lot safer but never the less you are in their (the sharks') domain."
Mr Smythe, who was on a recreational dive north of Eden at the time of yesterday's attack, says seal colonies in the area often attract white pointer sharks.
"In 32 years of diving I've seen two big whites just cruising in the distance ... I have seen a big shark at this time of year and one in the middle of winter," he said.
"Cape Howe is one of those particularly sharky spots, there's a lot of currents going on along there, it's basically the start of the Bass Strait and there are seal colonies.
"It's common to see seals with their heads bitten off, white pointers just come in for a bit of a taste."
"When I found out that he was diving on the bottom on the rocks, where it's a very weedy habitat, and mentioned that to other divers, the comment straight away was that he was mistaken for a seal," Mr Nerhus said.
Mistaken identity
The white pointer shark probably mistook the man for a seal, a shark expert said.
The three-metre shark engulfed the head and shoulders of Eric Nerhus off Cape Howe, south of the fishing port of Eden, yesterday before the 41-year-old diver fought free of its jaws.
Protected from the worst of the shark's bite by a lead-lined weight vest, Mr Nerhus later told friends he stabbed and clubbed at the creature's head and eyes with an abalone chisel until it spat him free.
The shark's bite crushed Mr Nerhus' reinforced face mask, broke his nose and shredded his wetsuit.
Suffering blood loss and shock, he was flown to Wollongong Hospital, where he was stable and conscious yesterday.
Sydney Aquarium shark specialist Grant Willis said Mr Nerhus was lucky to survive.
"He's had a run-in with one of the ocean's most formidable predators and he's lived to tell the story, so he's a very, very lucky man," he told the Nine Network this morning.
"Normally they (white pointers) feed on seals and things like that so it's bitten in on this guy thinking he's a seal. (He) didn't taste anything like a seal - sort of a bit bony and horrible and nothing like a seal at all - so (it) possibly spat (him) back out.
"There's also the story that I have heard that he fought this thing off, so there's a lot to be said for punching them (sharks) in the nose or poking them in the eye. It certainly would work."
Mr Willis said authorities should resist calls for a shark cull following the attack.
"It always flares up every time there is a shark attack. We're going into their world. It's still extremely rare for anyone to be attacked, let alone killed, by a shark," he said.
"To me, leave the guys (the sharks) alone. They are out there.
"Be aware that you are taking a risk, but you've got way more chance of dying in your car on your way to the beach than you ever are of being eaten by a shark in the water."
