This isn’t exactly the kind of weather to cruise to Plett for the weekend but hey, a little heads up just in case never hurt.

Earlier this morning, at around 8:30AM to be more precise, the NSRI in Plett were called out after five surf-skiers were involved in a close encounter with a shark at the wreck about 400 metres off Robberg Beach.

Here’s the full account from the NSRI:

On arrival on the scene 5 men, all locals from Plettenberg Bay, aged in their 50’s and 60’s, reported that while paddling on a regular paddle one of the surf-ski’s had been pushed from behind violently causing the paddler, Dave Manson, to be thrown out of the surf-ski.

Realising that it was a shark that had pushed the surf-ski from behind, and the incident which was witnessed by some of the other paddlers, Dave managed to get back into his surf-ski when the surf-ski started to sink and it was noticed that the back of the surf-ski had been bitten off by the shark.

Dave then abandoned his surf-ski and grabbed one of his fellow paddlers surf-ski’s and held onto the surf-ski while the remaining 4 men paddled ashore. Once safely ashore they raised the alarm.

The 5 paddlers…are certain that the shark was a White Shark and quite large.

The next step is to analyse the bite marks, which should help determine the size of the shark in question. An ominous warning from the NSRI to end:

NSRI are urging the public to be cautious. It is now well known that at this time of the year sharks migrate close in-shore to feed as part of their natural habit and NSRI urge paddlers, surfers and bathers to be cautious and to be aware of this natural phenomenon.

If you needed another excuse to curl up on the couch in your pyjamas then here it is.

[source:nsri]

[imagesource:here]