A fishing content creator nearly lost his leg after encountering a shark during his first dive in a tourist hotspot. Henry Gibbs, an influencer from New Zealand, said he is feeling "incredibly lucky" to still have his leg and full use of his foot after being bitten by the shark while spearfishing in Fiji on July 24.
"Four surgeries and a skin graft later it's looking like I'll make a full recovery, which I'm hugely grateful for," he wrote in a post on Instagram on Monday. "I was in its environment hunting its food," he wrote. "Wrong place, wrong time, and there are definitely a few lessons I'll share when I post the footage in the hope it helps someone avoid ending up in the same situation and a bit on how to respond to it. For now, just feeling very lucky and with an even greater appreciation for life."
Attack during first dive
Henry was filming at the time of the incident. He had dived into the water to spearfish when he noticed several grey reef sharks in the area, and said he was not sure what caused the shark to attack. "It's possible the commotion from the boat, the sounds of our spearguns, and the activity in the water gradually made this shark more interested or excited," he explained. "I'll never know exactly what caused the change, but eventually it started making tight semicircles beneath us, became increasingly agitated and even sprinted at the boat. Looking back, that should've been enough of a sign to call the dive. I never thought a shark of that size posed much of a threat, and that was a mistake."
Lessons shared
Henry shared some takeaways from the incident, one being to stick to plain black wetsuits in the tropics. "I've since heard of several grey reef shark incidents involving divers wearing camouflage wetsuits," he said. He also said not to ignore when a shark becomes agitated, erratic or increasingly aggressive. "Don't judge the risk by the shark's size."
