Local surfer Paul Welsh was attacked in the surf on Thursday, Feb 11, at the fickle longboarding location named the Mona Vale Basin.

A surfing buddy of ALB editor Bruce Channon, Paul was pushing his young son onto a few waves in a small nor'east swell in a shallow part of the bay when the shark latched onto his leg. Paul hung onto a rock as he was pulled under a little, and then shook the shark off and scrambled up on the rock shelf.

His leg had a line of teethmarks on one side, totalling about 300cm long, and a deep puncture wound on the other side. The fit surfer relayed his story to a film crew who happened to be making a documentary on sharks right in front of Paul's parked utility. Their shark expert, Michael Brown, apparently made the call that the teeth looked like the work of a great white, and then showed gathered surfers a photo of a huge great white's fin that he'd taken just off the Palm Beach pool in the last week.

Midday update: A tooth was taken from Paul’s leg by a doctor, so an ID of the type of shark will hopefully be made ... and it will be interesting to see if the above expert actually knows his stuff.

On the evening news, Michael Brown described the attack pattern as being that of a great white. Unfortunately (for this guy anyway) the tooth was identified as being that of a wobbygong, and the expert became an "expert". He apparently is trying to convince the government to pay his company to do the helicopter aerial shark spotting. Nuff said!

There was a similar attack in the shorebreak at the Basin around 10-12 years. A young Pittwater High School student named Luke Baker was also mauled by a woobygong in a very similar manner to what Paul Welsh suffered.

These photos were taken of two surfers who couldn't resist the small Basin swells, and they entered the water just an hour or so after the attack. Riding the wave is Manly Longboard life member Steve Forrest, riding his 1960s Shane, and wearing a natty pair of San-Torino retro shorts, while the SUP rider is another magazine editor, Andrew Cassidy.

Photos: Channon/surfinfo.com.au