BRISBANE, Australia — A police boat rescued a man after a shark bit the back off his kayak and left him sinking off the Australian coast, police said.
The 39-year-old man made an emergency phone call from his damaged watercraft that was taking after the attack on Sunday in Moreton Bay off the east coast city of Brisbane, a police statement said.
Brisbane water police responded to the call and were able to track his location with the help of planes coming in to land at nearby Brisbane Airport, police said.
Police retrieved the man on Sunday afternoon as well as his formerly 6.5-meter (21-foot) kayak, which was missing its stern.
The man was uninjured "although quite shaken and glad to be out of the water," the statement said.
Police Sgt. Gordon Thiry said the man was fortunate to have been quickly found.
Thiry urged people heading out on the water to wear a life jacket and carry an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, or EPIRB.
The man had been paddling with eight friends to an island when his kayak was attacked 8 kilometres (5 miles) from shore.
The Associated Press
