An Australian abalone diver told rescuers he was partly swallowed head-first by a Great White Shark today but managed to fight his way free.
Diver Eric Nerhus (41), who suffered a broken nose and bite marks around the chest, was underwater with his son (25) and other divers off Cape Howe on Australia's southeast coast, when the three-metre shark attacked.
"When he came to us he was conscious and alert but had a broken nose and lacerations to both sides of his torso and chest - bite marks all the way around," a rescue service spokeswoman said.
Mr Nerhus told fellow divers he didn't see the shark coming as the water was so dirty that visibility was severely limited.
The shark bit him around the head first, crushing his face mask and breaking his nose, said fellow diver Dennis Luobikis.
"He was actually bitten by the head . . . the shark swallowed his head," said Mr Luobikis, adding a second bite by the shark saw it clench its jaw around Mr Nerhus's torso. "The brunt of the bite was taken by his lead-weight vest," he added.
Mr Nerhus fought to free himself from the shark's jaws and was eventually pulled back aboard his boat by his son.
Abalone divers spend sometimes six to eight hours underwater and use lead weight vests, not lead belts, to stay down. The vests spread the lead weight across the body.
Attacks by Great White Sharks are usually fatal because of the massive size of the predators, which breed in Australia's cold southern waters, and the sheer force of their bites.