Shark attack may end diving career

12 Feb 2009, 10:24 am   -   Source: AAP
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The attacked diver, Paul Degelder is currently recovering, surrounded by friends and family (AAP)

The attacked diver, Paul Degelder is currently recovering, surrounded by friends and family (AAP)

A navy clearance diver savaged by a shark in Sydney Harbour is a keen and enthusiastic diver whose injuries may end his career, his commander says.

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A navy clearance diver savaged by a shark in Sydney Harbour is a keen and enthusiastic diver whose injuries may end his career, his commander says.

Australian Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Nigel Coates could not say whether Able Seaman Paul Degelder, 31, would be able to return to work after being mauled off Garden Island.

"We're going to have to wait and see how he recovers," Rear Admiral Coates said.

"One thing I can say is that he will be well looked after, whatever eventuates."

Seaman Degelder, a police diver and a safety boat were somewhere between HMAS Kuttabul navy base at Garden Island and Mrs Macquarie's Chair as part of an underwater trial to test new naval defence technology.

The diver suffered serious wounds to his hand and thigh after fighting off the shark which attacked him just before 7am, within sight of the Sydney Opera House.

Seaman Degelder was hauled into the safety boat, given first aid and taken to nearby St Vincent's Hospital where he's in a serious but stable condition after surgery.

Undisclosed injuries

The navy would not confirm reports he lost his hand while fighting off what was believed to be a bull shark, but an ambulance spokesman said it had been partially severed.

Mr Degelder, who has been in the defence force for eight years, was now surrounded by family and his diving mates, Rear Admiral Coates said.

He praised Mr Degelder as a "keen and enthusiastic diver", and said naval clearance divers were a tough breed.

"Sometimes I reckon the shark might come off second best, but that hasn't happened in this case," he said.

"The shark attacked the diver (and) our diver punched the shark, I believe, a couple of times.

"The shark then disappeared very quickly - it was all over, I'm told, in a few seconds."

The navy has suspended the diving exercise and would review further diving operations in the harbour, he said.

Predators return to harbour

Wednesday's shark attack was a reminder regenerated sea life is bringing the predators back to the iconic waterway, marine experts said.

The NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change said 30 years of industrial regulation, toxic chemical bans and improved stormwater treatment had revived water quality in the harbour and boosted resident sea life populations.

"As the harbour gets healthier, so the numbers of fish are likely to improve and so too, you may also have sharks attracted to the whole area," said department spokesman John Dengate.

Sydney Harbour fishing guide Craig McGill said a huge influx of kingfish, salmon and other assorted species into the harbour would be followed by sharks in hot pursuit.
"We've seen them before, but we're seeing more tiger sharks in the last two weeks than we've seen in 20 years," Mr McGill said.

Shark populations in the harbour peak around Easter, he said, which meant no one should rely on million-to-one shark attack statistics when swimming in the harbour.

"That's like saying: what are your chances of being hit by a car if you play on a suburban back street versus the highway.

"It's the same with sharks."

Taronga Zoo shark expert John West said it was likely a bull shark was responsible for the diver's attack.

"This time of year there's a number of species of sharks which are in the harbour - wobbegong, Port Jackson, as well as more dangerous types such as the bull shark and the dusky shark," he said.

"The bull sharks are the most dangerous."

The last shark fatality in Sydney Harbour was in 1963 when Martha Hathaway died from a bull shark attack.

In 1996, a drunken swimmer was bitten on the buttocks by a bull shark in the Parramatta River, followed by shark attacks on kayakers on the river in 2000 and 2002.

More recently in 2000 a man was bitten by a shark while swimming in the harbour at Mosman.

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