Todd Lloyd and his son Flynn had an unnerving encounter with a 2.5-meter shark while fishing near Windang Island in New South Wales. The shark repeatedly circled their boat and even bit into it, leaving visible tooth marks on the motor. Despite the frightening experience, they were recorded describing the incident to WIN News Illawarra. The article highlights the varying public reactions ranging from sympathy to skepticism about the severity of the encounter, with some viewers questioning if it was an overreaction given that such shark behavior is not uncommon in Australian waters.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Todd Lloyd and his son Flynn had an alarming encounter off the coast of NSW, near Windang Island just north of Shellharbour, while they were fishing on their boat. A 2.5-meter (8.2 feet) shark suddenly appeared, circling their vessel and even nudging it several times. The father and son reported having never seen such a large shark before. According to WIN News Illawarra, the shark also damaged their boat's motor while they were in the water. Flynn described seeing "little pretty harmless sharks" before but emphasized that this one was very scary and intimidating.
Written for “Shark Stalks Father Son Near Island” on 2026-10-08,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Dad and son ‘stalked’ by boat-eating shark near island
By
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Dad → stalk → island
An Aussie boy will return from school holidays next week with quite a story to tell after he and his father had a startling encounter off the NSW coast.
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he → return → coast
Todd Lloyd and his son Flynn were fishing on their boat near Windang Island, just north of Shellharbour, when a third, less friendly angler joined them.
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angler → fish → them
A 2.5-meter (roughly 8.2 feet) shark suddenly appeared and started to circle the vessel.
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shark → appear → vessel
The creature even nudged the boat several times, giving the pair quite a fright, WIN News Illawarra reported.
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Illawarra → nudge → fright
The father and son told the publication they have never seen such a large shark, let alone been on board when one decided to try to turn their boat into a snack.
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one → tell → snack
“I’ve only ever seen the little pretty harmless sharks – they’re not very scary – but that one was definitely one you wouldn’t want to see unless you’re on a boat
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you → see → boat
,” Flynn said.
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Flynn → say → ?
The pair were captured on camera watching as the shark chucked laps in the water and munched on their motor.
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shark → capture → motor
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Report → start → news
“We’ve just been fishing around here, there’s some good fish, then for the last half an hour we’ve been stalked,” the young boy said in the video.
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boy → fish → video
When the father and son returned home, they inspected the damage to their boat and spotted numerous tooth marks on the motor.
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they → return → motor
Todd Lloyd told WIN News he was surprised by how “persistent” and “aggressive” the creature was.
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creature → tell → News
“It wouldn’t leave us,” he said.
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he → leave → us
Flynn urged other anglers to be careful.
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Flynn → urge → anglers
“There’s a lot of activity out there, and those ones are pretty aggressive,” he said.
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he → ’ → activity
Aussies divided over dad and son’s shark encounter
Online viewers have detailed their own close calls with sharks while out on the water.
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viewers → divide → water
“I had a similar experience several years ago.
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I → have → experience
The shark bit the motor leaving teeth marks on it.
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shark → bite → it
I believe if I didn’t have a burly bucket on the back of the boat with bits of fish and bread, the shark would not have been there.
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shark → believe → fish
Just looking for something to eat,” one man said in the comments.
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man → look → comments
I had the same thing fishing in Sydney with a great white shark, and I still love telling the story,” another said.
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another → have → story
However, not everyone was as impressed by the father and son’s encounter, with many noting the shark was a young shortfin mako.
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shark → note → encounter
“Just a small mako biting the outboard like they do on a regular basis,” one person said.
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person → bite → basis
Imagine that,” another said.
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another → imagine → that
Aussies’ hilarious interview after shark sighting
The viral video comes just months after two boaties gave a colorful interview about a shark sighting.
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boaties → come → sighting
Lachie Murrell and Nathan Rolls appeared on Weekend Today in August to talk about their boat being circled by a great white off NSW’s South Coast.
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boat → appear → Coast
At the time, the waters where they were parked were teeming with great whites and tiger sharks trying to eat a dead whale carcass.
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they → park → carcass
The interview started with Lachie describing the moment the shark gnawed at their propeller.
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shark → start → propeller
But when the lads were asked what it felt like being so close to the roughly six-meter (roughly 19.7 feet) shark, the chat took a hilarious turn.
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chat → ask → turn
He blew a hole in his boardies,” Lachie quipped, cracking up the presenters.
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Lachie → blow → presenters
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