A British diver feared he would be “eaten in the middle of nowhere” after becoming separated from his boat and finding himself shadowed by a large tiger shark off Australia’s west coast.
John Craig, 34, from Sunderland, was spearfishing in Shark Bay — approximately 800km north of Perth — when he resurfaced to discover the vessel was nowhere in sight. What followed was an extraordinary four-nautical-mile swim to safety, during which he was stalked for hours by a curious 13ft (4m) tiger shark.
The experienced diver, who moved to Australia two years ago and has worked as a dive instructor for over a decade, said the encounter left him convinced he would not survive.
“It was extremely close and curious and kept approaching me from different angles,” Craig told the BBC. “It was trying to work out what I was and whether I could be on the menu. It was terrifying. I thought I was just going to be eaten out here in the middle of nowhere. This shark is just not leaving me alone.”
As a precaution, Craig positioned his spear gun between himself and the shark while swimming toward shore. He described the predator as one of the largest tiger sharks he had ever encountered in the water.
Moments earlier, after realising the boat had not returned to the GPS mark where he had entered the water, Craig had looked beneath the surface and seen the tiger shark within arm’s reach. He also spotted a large sandbar whaler shark circling nearby. At that point, he abandoned any attempt to locate the vessel and began the long swim to land.
Fearing that splashing and screaming had initially attracted the shark, Craig stopped making sudden movements and maintained a steady pace. The tiger shark repeatedly disappeared into the gloom before reappearing behind his fins, keeping pace with him throughout much of the ordeal.
“I had stayed exactly on the GPS mark where I had jumped in but realised there must be something wrong because the boat wasn’t back,” he wrote on social media. “I quickly turned and saw another large sandbar whaler circling behind me and it was at that point I decided to give up on getting to the boat and save myself.”
Craig estimated he was in the water for over three hours. By the time he reached shore, his legs were so exhausted he could barely stand. The boat he had been diving from, operated by a friend, had suffered mechanical problems, prompting a major search operation by Volunteer Marine Rescue Shark Bay.
Search crews eventually located him after he made it to land. He was safely reunited with his wife following the hours-long rescue effort.
Reflecting on the incident, Craig expressed gratitude to the emergency services and a surprising sense of appreciation for the marine life he encountered.
“I felt extremely lucky to have survived,” he said. He noted that even the 4m tiger shark, described by a pilot as one of many large sharks spotted in the area, never attempted to bite him.
“I don’t want people to be put off coming to Shark Bay to dive and snorkel. It is safe and beautiful,” Craig added. “These animals are apex predators but we are not ‘on the menu’. We need them in the oceans and as much as it was scary at the time I can only reflect on how beautiful that big female tiger shark was. If the circumstances were different I would have been stoked to have that experience.”
Worldwide, around 70 shark attacks are reported each year, with only a small fraction proving fatal. Craig’s story highlights both the inherent risks of open-water diving and the remarkable resilience required to overcome them.
Despite the terror of being lost at sea and shadowed by one of the ocean’s most formidable predators, John Craig emerged not only alive but with a deepened respect for the waters he loves to explore.