Experienced Diver Attacked by 3.5-Meter Great White off Perth

The incident is exceptionally well-documented for the GSAF archive, featuring a sustained multi-phase encounter in which the survivor hid in reef crevices for four to five minutes while a large great white circled and lunged repeatedly, and includes detailed first-person testimony, precise meteorological and oceanographic data, and a contemporaneous photograph from the treating hospital.

On January 15, 2006, Bernard Williams, a 52-year-old experienced diver and electrician from Sorrento near Perth, was conducting a spearfishing expedition approximately 3.5 kilometers off City Beach in Western Australia's Indian Ocean. At 11:00 AM, while submerged and searching for crayfish on a reef, Williams was suddenly struck by a great white shark estimated at 3.5 meters in length. Williams described the attack as coming from his left side and below, with no warning. The shark's initial bite caught his left elbow, and he was dragged approximately two meters before breaking free. Faced with the persistent threat, Williams descended to the ocean floor and took shelter in a reef crevice while the shark continued circling. Over the course of four to five minutes, the predator repeatedly approached from different angles. Williams defended himself by jabbing at the shark's nose, describing the sensation as "like hitting a lump of steel." When his two diving companions arrived at his location, the shark withdrew. Williams' companions provided immediate first aid, fashioning a tourniquet from a crayfish bag around his injured arm. The three divers surfaced and were rescued by another vessel. Williams was transported to shore by Surf Life Savers and treated at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital for lacerations to his left elbow. The injuries, while moderate, were not life-threatening. He returned to work within two weeks. Despite the serious nature of the encounter, Williams expressed reluctance about retaliatory action toward the shark, characterizing the incident as a natural encounter rather than a malicious attack. A subsequent search by shark patrol aircraft and fisheries vessels failed to locate the animal.