Great white fright

Oct 16 2007

A woman canoeist fought off an 8ft great white shark with a paddle after it knocked her into the water.

Linda Whitehurst, 52, was off Australia’s eastern resort of Byron Bay, about 400 miles north of Sydney, when the shark lunged at her.

"I just kept punching, punching, punching" at the shark until it swam away, she said. She managed to get back to shore, where she needed four stitches in her arm for a small bite.