Melissa Brunning described her encounter with tawny nurse sharks in Dugong Bay, Western Australia, on July 2, 2018. (Brendon Fallon/Shutterstock)

‘Shark Attack’ Headlines are Farfetched, Says Shark Bite ‘Victim’

By Brendon Fallon, Epoch Times

Updated: July 5, 2018

Headlines claiming that a woman had been attacked by a shark and “dragged” into crocodile-infested waters may have aroused public alarm but are a little far-fetched, the woman caught up in the ‘shark attack’ told The Epoch Times.

“It was completely my fault,” she said.

Brunning had embarked on a “once-in-a-lifetime, spur-of-the-moment” boat trip in May in the Kimberley region of Western Australia with some friends.

It was roughly the third day of their travels when the group arrived at Dugong Bay.

“These beautiful tawny nurses (sharks) were swimming around the boat as soon as we arrived and they were there all day, all night,” Brunning said.

Then, as she was feeding a fish to one of the sharks, her finger was sucked into its mouth only to become clamped between its sharp serrated teeth.

“My finger was put in the way,” Brunning said as she she recalled finding out.

“He’s just gone, ‘Oh, a fish’, sucked it in.

“Then he’s turned, because that’s what you would do as a shark when you’ve got a feed.”

That’s when the force of the shark’s movement dragged Brunning into the water. She was quickly removed from the water by her companions.

Shark attacks tourist Melissa Brunning

Melissa Brunning was taking advantage of a rare opportunity to feed what she thought was a placid shark in northern Western Australia. But, then the two-metre tawny nurse got a hold of her.Story: https://bit.ly/2KyCFSh#Sharks #7News

Posted by 7 News Sydney on Saturday, June 30, 2018

Brunning said that between the shark’s teeth, her finger felt like it was being shred off the bone. So she was beyond relieved to find that the flesh of her finger was still attached upon getting out of the water, although it did require a small surgical procedure to stitch back into shape.

In hindsight, she said that the footage appears highly dramatic for an injury that turned out to be relatively minor.

“I was a little upset because I have seen in some of the headlines that this is a ‘shark attack.’

“This was not a shark attack. This is just a stupid blonde doing a stupid thing.

“Our marine life is absolutely beautiful and I think sharks are incredible, majestic creatures in the ocean; and it is their domain. So, I think it’s really important just to admire them and respect them,” she said.

“And don’t feed sharks.”

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