[Editor: I was quite reluctant to run this story because mainstream news sites tend to report incidents like this in a sensationalist way with little focus on the facts! For example only one of the many reports in the Aussie press describes how the paddler was knocked off - apparently the shark bit the back of her ski and shook it.
But after receiving about a dozen emails from people all over the world I figured that I'd better put something up!
The bottom line is that (as far as I know - and I've documented quite a number of these incidents) no surf ski paddler has ever been seriously hurt in interactions with these creatures, so without taking anything away from what was obviously a scary experience, you're far more likely to be injured driving to the beach than in any interaction with the men in gray.
Here in Cape Town we paddle in some of the most Great White-infested waters in the world - and I've only ever seen a single shark - which scared the s#$t out me admittedly - but the thing was actually just cruising along minding its own business!
But to think of stopping paddling because of sharks would be illogical.
Anyway - here's the story according to a Reuters correspondent.]
Great White Shark (Photo: Terry Goss)