A Sydney swimmer believed to be bitten by a great white shark this morning was actually attacked by a wobbegong.
NSW Primary Industries Minister Steve Whan said a government scientist had confirmed a tooth fragment from Paul Welsh's leg belonged to the normally docile shark species.
Mr Welsh, 46, suffered minor injuries in the attack at Mona Vale on Sydney's northern beaches earlier today and told the Manly Daily newspaper he clung to rocks to stop being pulled away.
The wobbegong which attacked Mr Welsh was about 1.6m long. The species grows to a maximum of 2.2m.
Mr Welsh told Nine News the force of the shark was "unbelievable".
"I'm just glad it hit me [and] not [my son] ... it was trying to pull me back in the water," he said.
"Wrong place, wrong time, we're in their domain, and that's the most important thing we've got to realise."
Shark spotter Michael Brown, who witnessed the attack, told the ABC earlier this morning he believed the creature was a great white.
"I'm quite shaken and I spend my life researching, following and working with sharks, but to be that close to an actual attack and to be faced with the fact that it could've been my child, it's definitely had a life-changing impact," Mr Brown was quoted as saying.
Mr Whan said it was unusual for Wobbegongs to attack humans.
“It is quite possible that the man stood on or spooked the shark," he said.
“This species is not aggressive and is not known to attack humans.”
SurfWatch Australia director Michael Brown was at the scene when Mr Welsh was bitten.
"About 30 odd metres behind us, we turned around and saw a whole lot of thrashing in the water," he told ABC 702.
"And it looks like — I'm not sure exactly if it was a great white — but this shark has come in from underneath the guy.
"It's launched straight up into him, knocked him out of the water and then latched onto his leg.
"And luckily, he had a chance to grab onto a rock and the shark's actually thrashing, trying to drag him back into the water."
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