On a trip back to Dunedin in 2011, Barry Watkins holds his surfboard which was bitten in half by a great white shark at St Clair in 1971. Mr Watkins, who now lives in Levin, still bears scars from when he was attacked by a 4m-long great white shark at St Clair beach in 1971, aged 16. He is now tentatively booked for February 1 with Shark Dive NZ to be dipped in the ocean off the coast of Bluff and stare great whites in the eyes. "I was paddling out through the rip, next thing I was under the water, I couldn’t get to the surface. Sharks aren’t a problem, just the cold water."

Source: Otago Daily Times January 11, 2018 16:07 UTC