Great white shark jumps into Australian fisherman's boat

A great white shark weighing 200 kg jumped into an Australian fisherman's boat, knocked him over and lacerated his arm, a media report said on Monday.

Terry Selwood, 73, was fishing near the shore on Saturday afternoon at Evans Head on the New South Wales north coast when the shark launched itself into his boat.

"I caught a blur of something coming over the boat... and the pectoral fin of the shark hit me on the forearm and knocked me down on the ground to my hands and knees," Selwood told the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) on Monday.

"He came right over the top of the motor and then dropped onto the floor."

"He was 2.7 metres long and about 200 kilos."

Selwood added: "I was losing a fair amount of blood, I was stunned, I couldn't register what happened and then I thought oh my God, I've got to get out of here."

He then reached for his radio and called the local marine rescue volunteers at Evans Head.

Marine Rescue Unit commander Karen Brown said a crew was sent out to rescue Selwood and then went back out a second time to retrieve the fisherman's boat and the shark, reports the ABC.

Selwood said the conditions when the incident happened were smooth, and there was no surface fish or clear reason why the shark would breach.