Watch: Terrifying footage captures shark attacking spearfisher near popular tourist destination
After four surgeries and a skin graft, the diver is expected to make a full recovery, which he is "hugely grateful for."
Watch: Terrifying moment shark attacks spearfish diver off Fiji coast
Watch the terrifying POV moment a shark rapidly lunges and bites a spearfishing diver's leg off the coast of Fiji. After four surgeries and a skin graft, he is expected to make a full recovery.
FIJI — A spearfisher’s first dive trip took a terrifying turn this month when he was attacked by a shark off the coast of Fiji.
On July 19, New Zealand diver Henry Gibbs had been exploring a reef for a couple of hours before moving into clearer water to hunt for a larger catch.
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"We’d missed a few shots on other fish, and there were a handful of grey reef sharks around, with this one hanging around us longer than the others," Gibbs recounted in an Instagram post regarding the incident.
Shark attacks spearfish diver off Fiji coast (Henry Gibbs via Storyful)
The shark then began making semicircles beneath him and became riled.
Captured entirely on camera, Gibbs’ POV footage reveals the exact moment the shark suddenly surged forward and attacked his calf, leaving him with significant injuries.
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According to Gibbs, after four surgeries and a skin graft, he’s expected to make a full recovery, which he is "hugely grateful for."
Shark lunges at spearfish diver off Fiji coast, attacking leg (Henry Gibbs via Storyful)
While he said he’ll never fully know what triggered the attack, he suspects it could have been the noise from the boat, the spearguns, and the movement in the water that could have piqued the shark's curiosity.
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"Looking back, that should’ve been enough of a sign to call the dive. I never thought a shark of that size posed much of a threat, and that was a mistake," he said.
Shark lunges at spearfish diver off Fiji coast, attacking leg (Henry Gibbs via Storyful)
Henry Gibbs learned some very valuable lessons from his experience, including not ignoring agitated shark signals and not underestimating a threat based on size.
He urges other divers to move elsewhere if a shark's behavior changes.
"No hard feelings toward the shark. I was in its environment hunting its food," he noted in an Instagram post regarding his recovery, adding that he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.