A cruel twist of irony – or rather a tackle line being pulled by a mako shark – ensnared an Australian recreational angler in the waters about 35 miles off of the coast of Newcastle, New South Wales on Sunday, ending in all likelihood with the fisher becoming the fished, as the man was not wearing a life jacket and is still missing, according to NSW State Police officials, 9News reports.
NSW Police Marine Area Commander Joe McNulty said the 58 year-old Yowie Bay man, Paul Barning, and his fishing buddies were retrieving “quite a large shark” when became caught in the line and was pulled into the water. “That 58-year-old man was not wearing a life jacket, he was not wearing a flotation device that would have aided him. That’s a message to everyone fishing locally, in our waterways, offshore, he was 55km offshore without a life jacket. Tragically, that might have saved his life,” McNulty said, lamenting that part but not the fateful means with which prey became predator as Barning’s quarry so ingeniously turned the tables on him.
Also that the life jacket probably wouldn’t mean shit if a shark pulled him 80 feet underwater. If anything he might’ve been eaten faster by making himself more visible whilst thrashing in the abyss.