MELBOURNE, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- An Australian angler has fought off a large great white shark that was attacking his boat with a common garden broom.
Dan Hoey was fishing for gummy sharks with a friend and a client near Port Fairy, 290 kilometers southwest of Melbourne, when the "agitated" 5.5 meter began to circle Hoey's boat.
"This big beast turned up and wouldn't leave us alone," Hoey told News Limited on Monday.
"The shark nearly took a chunk out of my Yamaha motors, leaving a few small dents and scratches."
Aware that the shark could have done some serious damage to the 7.5-meter boat, Hoey grabbed a garden broom that he had on board and used it to try and push the shark away.
"Once she got the cage filled with bait we thought she was done but then she came back wanting more," Hoey said.
"I tried to push the shark away from our boat, but she kept coming back to have another look at the motor."
Hoey said the shark's aggressive nature could have been due to it being heavily pregnant.
"I've seen sharks in the past and they've been quite stand-offish but this one was very fired up," he said.
"She was quite aggravated, I think she was attracted to the outboard motor and propeller.
"She was of breeding size, showing battle scars on her back and tail, most likely inflicted from mating rituals."
After 20 minutes of trying to ward off the shark with his broom, Hoey decided to raise anchor and find another fishing spot.
The incident comes as most Australian states ramp up their shark attack prevention efforts ahead of the summer.
The New South Wales (NSW) government deployed 85 drum lines, a trap used to lure and capture large sharks, on top of 15 already in use following the attack of surfer Cooper Allen off a popular beach by a great white in late September.
Authorities in Western Australia (WA) announced in October they would use world-first drone surveillance technology over the summer to keep track of sharks near popular beaches.
