--- title: Surfer Punches Great White Shark Away description: An Australian surfer chalked up a shark attack as "a really, really unpleasant morning" canonical: https://time.com/4919996/surfer-survives-shark-attack/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-29T14:59:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:46:53.472Z og:title: Surfer Punched Shark on 'Really Really Unpleasant Morning' og:description: He also has a really, really big talent for understatement og:url: https://time.com/4919996/surfer-survives-shark-attack/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80950c93f9bfc20a/6988c195bc6cfc49963e0c4d/shark-attack.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1973 og:image:height: 1110 og:image:alt: AUST, Spencer Gulf, Great White shark bites @ surface, teeth (Carcharodon C2050/ncarcharias) JW484 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Surfer Punched Shark on 'Really Really Unpleasant Morning' twitter:description: He also has a really, really big talent for understatement twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80950c93f9bfc20a/6988c195bc6cfc49963e0c4d/shark-attack.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Surfer Who Punched Great White Shark Away Says He Had 'A Really Really Unpleasant Morning' > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=09938286-13b0-4d68-8197-aee2528fa6f5&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Aug 29, 2017 2:59 PM UTC  Watt Jim—Getty Images/Perspectives by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Aug 29, 2017 2:59 PM UTC A man was supposed to have a nice day surfing in the waters off of Cathedral Rocks beach on the outskirts of Melbourne, [Australia](http://time.com/4357781/woman-dies-shark-attack-australia/?iid=sr-link3), but after a great white [shark attack](http://time.com/3964374/shark-attack-surfer-mick-fanning/?iid=sr-link2), he ended up having what he dubbed “a really, really unpleasant morning.” His morning may have been ruined, but his powers of understatement remain intact. Marcel Brundler was in the water when he noticed a dolphin swimming near by, according to [Australia’s ABC News](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-29/surfer-fends-off-shark-near-lorne/8852186). As if acting out a plot from every [shark attack movie](http://time.com/4214539/shark-attacks-2015-new-record/?iid=sr-link1) ever, the surfer soon realized that was no dolphin. “I realized fairly quick because it was more than half a metre wide, with a massive dorsal fin, and it looked at me,” he told ABC News. “Then it kind of dived off, came back and circled me, and took a fair notch out of my board, circled me again, then it got me on my wettie, it got me on my hip.” Brunder was able to use his surfboard and fists to fend off further attack from what is believed to be a great white shark. He credits the fact that he was wearing a thick wet suit for being able to walk away from the attack with just a few bite marks on his [surfboard](http://time.com/3999888/shark-attack-mick-fanning-surfing-yellow-boards/?iid=sr-link5), “a little scrape on \[his\] skin.” Quite an “unpleasant morning.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4919996/surfer-survives-shark-attack/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4919996/surfer-survives-shark-attack/"},"headline":"Surfer Who Punched Great White Shark Away Says He Had 'A Really Really Unpleasant Morning'","datePublished":"2017-08-29T14:59:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:46:53.472Z","description":"He also has a really, really big talent for understatement","url":"https://time.com/4919996/surfer-survives-shark-attack/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","Viral News"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80950c93f9bfc20a/6988c195bc6cfc49963e0c4d/shark-attack.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80950c93f9bfc20a/6988c195bc6cfc49963e0c4d/shark-attack.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AUST, Spencer Gulf, Great White shark bites @ surface, teeth (Carcharodon C2050/ncarcharias) JW484","caption":"AUST, Spencer Gulf, Great White shark bites @ surface, teeth (Carcharodon C2050/ncarcharias) JW484","creditText":"Watt Jim—Getty Images/Perspectives","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4919996/surfer-survives-shark-attack/","name":"Surfer Who Punched Great White Shark Away Says He Had 'A Really Really Unpleasant Morning'"}}]}] ```