A Whakatane marine scientist had a lucky escape when a grey reef shark turned on him when he tried to save the shark from being caught in a net.


A grey reef shark similar to the one which attacked Kydd Pollock.

Kydd Pollock's, 33 saving grace was his diving mask. He was bitten three times in the face and on the head in a lagoon off Palmyra Atoll in the Northern Pacific on November 19.

Kydd's father Rick says his son was snorkelling was using nets to capture giant hump headed Maori wrasse for sonic tagging.

The shark swam into one of the nets and got tangled; the other divers cut the shark out. Once released the shark panicked and went for the other net where Kydd was.

Rick says his son went for the float line and swam to the bottom with it; however the shark turned around and started attacking Kydd first on the back of the head, then on his mask and then on his forehead.
'Luckily the mask took the brunt of the attack."

Rick says his son was extremely lucky to escape the incident considering where it happened on his head and that he was on an island with few medical supplies and no doctor.
'The shark's teeth just about severed his eye lid and he got stitches around his entire left eye. He's very very lucky there.”

Rick says Kydd's girlfriend Amanda was amazing and was able to stitch and sew him up and rid herself of any emotional contact and do everything that was required.

Rick says Kydd sees the encounter as a defensive mechanism of a panicked animal.
'He's keen to get back in the water and doesn't actually refer to it as an attack.”

Kydd is a marine researcher for the Nature Conservancy and has been living in Hawaii for the past six years.
He was born in the United States and was one year old when he moved to New Zealand with his family.
Rick is looking forward to seeing his son when he comes back home for Christmas in 10 days time.