A ‘”fearless” angler filmed himself fighting off three sharks as they tried to steal his catch before chasing him in a “blood-frenzy”.
Cooper Watson admits he was “lucky” to have escaped unharmed when he refused to allow the trio of blacktip sharks to nick his catch.
Mr Watson, 21, was fishing in the Indian Ocean off the Cocos Islands on Sunday when he caught a trevally.
Hair-raising footage shows a blacktip shark following the catch as he tries to reel it in while stood in the thigh-deep water.
Mr Cooper kicked out to try to scare off the predator but to no avail.
Despite having lifted the trevally out of the crystal clear waters, the shark leaped up and chomped down on the fish as blood poured into the water from the half-devoured meal.
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(Image: Kennedy News/@aus.angler)
(Image: Kennedy News/@aus.angler)
The blood prompted the sharks to go into a “frenzy” and Mr Cooper can be seen running backwards as the predators dart about around him – all while he continued to film and laugh at the risky spectacle.
The fisherman admits a bite on the leg from one of them could have been a “serious problem” as he had no phone service and was still quite far from shore.
Many of the 1.8million viewers who watched the clip on social media were stunned by how unfazed Mr Cooper was by the attack, while one commenter wrote: “Who the hell fights a shark? Oh yeah an Australian.”
Fishing guide Mr Cooper, from South Australia, said: “Just as I started filming, an angry black tip reef shark came from nowhere and grabbed the fish literally out of my hands.
“At that moment I was worried not that they would try and attack me but could quite easily bite my leg in the sandy water now tainted with fish blood while in a frenzy.
(Image: Kennedy News/@aus.angler)
“At first I was just worried about him taking my fish but then I became concerned that one of the three sharks could grab my leg in the frenzy.
“My first reaction was to tell him to f**k off but that quickly transpired into me trying to kick the shark and running away. If I could walk on water I think I would have.
“I didn’t pick up any injuries but had I been unlucky, I could have quite easily had a serious problem.
“I had no phone service and was still a good distance from the shore so had I been bitten I would have been in a spot of bother.
One person commented on the viral video saying: “Aussies really have no fear lmao.”
While another said: “This is literally how to get bitten by a shark.”