Incident Report
Great White Shark Bites Kayak in Half off Coffs Harbour
Coffs Harbour, New South Wales·Australia
A male kayaker paddling near Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, escaped uninjured when a three-meter great white shark struck and split his kayak in half during an early morning training session on August 17, 2022. A passing vessel nearby provided immediate rescue.
Please take a moment to consider the human impact of this event on the victim and their loved ones. The data presented here documents real events that affected real people and families.
Why this is notable
A great white shark bit a six-metre kayak clean in half, yet the victim was rescued uninjured by a vessel that happened to be en route to install a SMART drum line in the same area — an unusual combination of dramatic vessel destruction and coincidental rescue context.
Incident Profile
Circumstances
Environmental
Individual
Location
Description
On August 17, 2022, a kayaker experienced a dramatic encounter with a great white shark while paddling near Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. The incident occurred during an early morning training session around 6 a.m., when the male paddler was kayaking between Pig Island and the Coffs Harbour break wall alongside two other kayakers in the Tasman Sea. Without warning, a white shark approximately three metres in length struck the rear section of the six-metre kayak with considerable force. The impact was severe enough to bite the vessel in half. According to witness accounts, one fellow paddler observed that the water became turbulent before rapidly calming, describing the attack as happening "really quickly." The kayaker fell into the water following the impact. Fortunately, a passing boat was in the immediate vicinity and responded swiftly to provide rescue assistance. The passing vessel was notably en route to install a Shark Management Alert In Real Time (SMART) drum line in the area. The paddler escaped without sustaining any physical injuries despite the severity of the shark's attack. Local authorities from the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries responded to the scene and examined the damaged kayak remains, which were retained at the local yacht club. Based on the bite indentations and profile marks left in the kayak, officials confirmed that a white shark was responsible for the incident. Remarkably, the kayaker demonstrated resilience following the encounter and returned to paddling shortly afterward, borrowing a canoe from another paddler. Local observers noted that elevated shark populations in the area during this period were typical seasonal behavior, with numbers expected to decrease as sharks followed whale migrations out of the region.