Dad and son ‘stalked’ by boat-eating shark near island

An Aussie boy will return from school holidays next week with quite a story to tell after he and his father had a startling encounter off the NSW coast.

Todd Lloyd and his son Flynn were fishing on their boat near Windang Island, just north of Shellharbour, when a third, less friendly angler joined them.

A 2.5-meter (roughly 8.2 feet) shark suddenly appeared and started to circle the vessel. The creature even nudged the boat several times, giving the pair quite a fright, WIN News Illawarra reported.

The father and son told the publication they have never seen such a large shark, let alone been on board when one decided to try to turn their boat into a snack.

“I’ve only ever seen the little pretty harmless sharks – they’re not very scary – but that one was definitely one you wouldn’t want to see unless you’re on a boat,” Flynn said.

The pair were captured on camera watching as the shark chucked laps in the water and munched on their motor.

“We’ve just been fishing around here, there’s some good fish, then for the last half an hour we’ve been stalked,” the young boy said in the video.

When the father and son returned home, they inspected the damage to their boat and spotted numerous tooth marks on the motor.

Todd Lloyd told WIN News he was surprised by how “persistent” and “aggressive” the creature was.

“It wouldn’t leave us,” he said.

Flynn urged other anglers to be careful.

“There’s a lot of activity out there, and those ones are pretty aggressive,” he said.

Aussies divided over dad and son’s shark encounter

Online viewers have detailed their own close calls with sharks while out on the water.

“I had a similar experience several years ago. The shark bit the motor leaving teeth marks on it. I believe if I didn’t have a burly bucket on the back of the boat with bits of fish and bread, the shark would not have been there. Just looking for something to eat,” one man said in the comments.

“Enjoy those moments boys. I had the same thing fishing in Sydney with a great white shark, and I still love telling the story,” another said.

However, not everyone was as impressed by the father and son’s encounter, with many noting the shark was a young shortfin mako.

“Just a small mako biting the outboard like they do on a regular basis,” one person said.

“Wow, a shark in the ocean. Imagine that,” another said.

Aussies’ hilarious interview after shark sighting

The viral video comes just months after two boaties gave a colorful interview about a shark sighting.

Lachie Murrell and Nathan Rolls appeared on Weekend Today in August to talk about their boat being circled by a great white off NSW’s South Coast.

At the time, the waters where they were parked were teeming with great whites and tiger sharks trying to eat a dead whale carcass.

The interview started with Lachie describing the moment the shark gnawed at their propeller. But when the lads were asked what it felt like being so close to the roughly six-meter (roughly 19.7 feet) shark, the chat took a hilarious turn.

“It was a bit of a code brown for Nath. He blew a hole in his boardies,” Lachie quipped, cracking up the presenters.