"I literally stared straight into its soul."

A surfer hit by a Great White in June has been revealed as a witness to yesterday’s hit on a Perth swimmer by a Great White and, possibly, a Tiger shark. 

Alex Dodds, who is twenty-five, was spearfishing at Leeman, a couple hundred clicks north of Perth, when the twelve-foot White bit his leg. 

“Mouth literally that wide, and just teeth everywhere,” Dodds told WA press. “And its tail was just flapping behind it, full pelt, coming towards me. I literally stared straight into its soul, hey — like the eyes rolled back. [It’s] hard to make sense of at the moment. There’s been a few moments where I’ve been like ‘I’m so lucky, hey.’”

 

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Yesterday, he went down to the beach for his first post-op swim (one hundred stitches) when the shark, or sharks, a White and a Tiger as has been posited by some witnesses, hit the swimmer, a fifty-seven-year-old Port Beach local. 

“First time back in the ocean after my [shark] attack, so pretty heavy,” Dodd told ABC. “I just feel so bad, obviously, for the bloke and then the family as well, it’s just so sad.”

Authorities continue to search for the missing man.

Man swimming fifty feet from the beach disappeared by suspected Great White.

A male swimmer is missing after being hit by what witnesses described as a “massive” shark at Port Beach, a dozen clicks or so west of Perth. 

A chopper and marine rescue crews are searching for the man who was swimming fifty feet offshore when witnesses say he was “taken” by what was, likely, a Great White shark. 

Three ambulances are waiting in the carpark. 

A witness told the West Australian he and his pals had been surfing when a man in a dingy “came flying at us and screamed at us to get out of the water because there’s been a shark attack”.

Witness Kaiden Boult told the West, “We scurried out onto the rocks as soon as we got out to get a look from a high vantage point and as soon as we did we saw a massive shark out in the water. It was very big. Next thing you know there’s cops and paramedics coming out of everywhere, and they cordoned it off and said it was a crime scene.”

Another witness told WAToday he saw the man being circled by the shark before disappearing. 

The attack came on the twenty-first anniversary on the twentieth anniversary of Ken Crews’ horror death in a Great White shallow water attack at nearby Cottesloe Beach. 

Attacks by Great Whites, once a wild rarity in West Oz, have become wildly common. 

Last October, surfer Andrew Sharpe was disappeared by a Great White at Kelpies, near Esperance, south of Perth; that January, an Esperance diver was hit by a Great White and three years before that, still Esperance, teenager Laeticia Brouwer was killed by a Great White in front of her family at Kelpies. 

Plenty more, of course, but y’get the picture. 

Tons of Whites. 

"With respect to his family wishes, we have decided to stop pre-order until further notice. Those who have placed their orders will still receive their boards."

Two days ago, the news that InterSport Corp, owners of Wham-O toys, was taking pre-orders for a limited edition re-release of the classic Morey MACH 7 following Tom Morey’s death was met with a hostile response from family and pro’s despite an undisclosed portion of sales going to the fam. 

From Tom’s FB page, 

“This is the Morey Family and WE DO NOT APPRECIATE THIS THIEF IN THE NIGHT ACTION OF THIS CORPORATE MOVE. THERE IS NO CONTRACTURAL AGREEMENT HERE TO MOREY FAMILY FOR THIS TYPE OF CORPORATE FINANCIAL GAIN IN THE MIDST OF OUT LOSS. 

“No, FUCK YOU GUYS,” wrote nineties superstar Nick Gibbs. “NO WAY WILL I BUY THIS OR ANY PRODUCT FROM YOU, EVER, YOU FUCKING SOULLESS PARASITES.”

Now, InterSport Corp, who own the rights to the Morey name and design, which also includes black rails and pinlines on bodyboards, has backed down on the planned run of 500 Mach 7s selling at a very reasonable, I thought, two hundred bucks a pop.

In a statement Wham-O President Todd Richards wrote, 

In response to the MACH 7 Commemorative Edition bodyboard, Morey Bodyboards would like to clarify following feedback regarding the pre-order announcement. 

This bodyboard is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Boogieboard. And, with permission from Tom Morey prior to his untimely passing, was to be announced for pre-order with an estimated delivery in March 2022.

With respect to his family wishes, we have decided to stop pre-order until further notice. Those who have placed their orders will still receive their boards.

To the bodyboarding community, our goal was and is to celebrate Tom’s legacy, the bodyboarding sport, to encourage new boarders to experience what you experience with the ocean. We apologize for any misperception that our communications may have caused, as it was not our intent.

Kinda weird, still gonna make enough for the pre-orders etc. 

Are there any bodyboarders out there with feelings about this development?