Shark leaps into boat, lands on Australian fisherman

CANBERRA, Australia - A 73-year-old Australian fisherman said on Monday that he caught a far bigger fish than he hoped for when a 2.7-meter great white shark leapt into his boat, knocking him off his feet.

Terry Selwood was left with a badly bruised and bleeding right arm where the airborne shark struck him with a pectoral fin as it landed on him on the deck of the 4.5-meter power boat Saturday off Evans Head, 725 kilometers north of Sydney.

Selwood sprung up on the gunnel at the bow of the boat to avoid the thrashing shark and steadied himself by clinging to the tubular metal frame of the sun shelter, known as a bimini.