Flightless Bird Podcast – "Australia: Shark Attacks"

Host: David Farrier
Cohost: Rob
Guests: Brett Canallen, Dave Pearson
Date: January 14, 2025

Overview

In this episode, David Farrier temporarily leaves his American sojourn to bring listeners a distinctly Australian story: the real, raw, improbable, and, ultimately, surprisingly uplifting experiences of shark attack survivors. Joined as always by cohost Rob, Farrier heads to Australia to unravel why the nation lives with one of nature’s most thrilling threats just off its shores. Farrier interviews survivors, explores Australia–New Zealand cultural quirks, and dives into how rare yet life-changing these encounters are, all in his trademark dry, curious, and relatable style.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Australia–New Zealand Rivalry & Cultural Banter

• Farrier and Rob open with lighthearted banter about how New Zealanders are often mistaken for Australians, and discuss the sense of rivalry similar to Canada vs. America.
  • Farrier: “Australians are like a bit louder and a bit more… intense than New Zealanders. New Zealanders are a bit more low key almost in the way I think Canadians are a bit more like low key. Americans like, very, like brash and loud.” (19:08)
  • The rivalry, typically good-natured, is “evenly matched” and often revolves around who claims icons like Russell Crowe, pavlova, and the flat white. (19:59)
  • Memorable moment where Farrier sardonically describes being called Australian:
    • Farrier: “I tense up. I’d rather someone call me, like, British… but Australian, whoa.” (20:28)

2. Shark Attacks: The Australian Context

• Farrier notes Australia’s statistically high incidence of shark attacks:
  • “Of 69 unprovoked bites around the world in 2023, 22% happened in Australia.” (22:00)
  • Yet, shark attacks remain exceedingly rare: “You’re thousands of times more likely to be hit by a car… before you’re even close to being bitten by a shark. It’s a rare event.” (22:45)
• The societal mythos around sharks is contrasted with data and firsthand accounts, aiming to move beyond fearmongering.

3. Interview: Brett Canallen’s Shark Attack Survival

• Background:
  • Brett, from the seaside town of Kiama ("voted Australia’s best tourist town"), grew up loving the ocean and surfing—a rite of passage for many Australians.
• The Day of the Attack:
  • After a rough start to his day (surf shop break-in), Brett heads surfing with a mate to decompress.
• The Attack (31:15–39:30):
  • “I get struck from my right side with so much force… It felt like I was back on the footy field and just got hit so hard and got thrown off my board.” (29:32)
  • Sensory details: “The feel of the shark’s skin—really rough… The complete absence of sound… and the shark’s eye—just black.” (31:15)
  • Brett instinctively pulls away (not advised): “When you pull away, it… shreds everything.” (35:51)
  • His friend Joel heroically paddles toward him, and with the aid of two nurses, Brett is stabilized.
  • The shark missed his femoral artery by 2mm; had surgery involving a muscle graft from his back.
• Memorable Quote:
  • “I lost three quarters of my left quad… [the surgeons] were talking about amputation at the start...” (40:21)
  • On the randomness of fate: “You can feel very alone in what you’re going through because of that. And it’s just about creating a little bit of community and the knowledge that you’re not the only person who’s gone through it.” (42:12, on the Bite Club)
  • Reflecting on trauma: “There’s something strange about feeling that… the why me?” (52:32)

4. Resilience & Recovery

• Brett is introduced to Bite Club, a support group for shark attack survivors, founded in Australia and now worldwide.

  • The group visits new survivors and pairs them up with others.
  • “The first rule about Bite Club is you talk about your attack… every time you talk about it, you let a little bit of some of that trauma dissipate…” — Dave Pearson (49:52)

• Brett’s physical and emotional journey:

  • Overcomes medical predictions to surf again, five months after the attack.
  • Guidance from his physio: “People fail not from aiming too high and missing, but from aiming too low and hitting.”

5. Interview: Dave Pearson and the Bite Club

• Dave Pearson, Bite Club founder, recounts surviving his own bull shark attack and fighting through infection/injury, plus the shared trauma and healing in talking with another survivor (47:01–47:42).
• He notes the importance of survivor-to-survivor connections—not just therapy:
  • “A cancer survivor knows how to talk to another cancer survivor… for us it’s sharks. We’re no more important than any other trauma survivor. It’s just that’s our uniqueness...” (49:05)
• Dave underscores the empathy that grows from traumatic experience:
  • “The number one [thing learned] is everybody’s struggling with something. And I always say that you never know what the person beside you is going through.” (54:32)

6. Processing, Laughter, and Returning to the Water

• Both Brett and Dave return to surfing; notably, Brett downplays the nature of the shark to authorities to avoid it being hunted:

  • “He lied about what type of shark it was so they would not be able to go out and kill it. They both do not resent sharks at all.” (58:16)

• Many survivors, despite trauma, return to the ocean.

• Reflection on randomness and resilience in facing the deeply unfair but statistically rare event.

7. The Aftermath: Telling the Story, Finding Meaning

• Shark attack survivors learn to modulate how they tell their story to different audiences: friends, families, bar acquaintances, other survivors (50:32–51:32).
• Emotional healing necessitates not only physical, but existential adaptation—making peace with randomness (“why me?”), and, for many, growing deep empathy for others with hidden struggles.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Brett Canallen, on the surreal moment of attack:
  • “There was this certain feeling of enormity… everything else in the world doesn’t matter… it’s just you and what is happening in front of you… a moment where time really slows down almost to the point of stopping.” (30:58)
• Dave Pearson, on perspective shift:
  • “I went, wow, fancy dying, surfing. It was just like time slowed down so much. And I went, well, I’ve had… a pretty good life.” (45:01)
  • On empathy: “You never know what the person beside you is going through. So don’t discount how people feel. Always try and show a bit of empathy.” (54:32)
• Rob & David, about risk:
  • “So if you get bitten by a shark, you going back in the water after?” — Rob
    • “Never.” — David (58:48)
• On Bite Club:
  • “The first rule about Bite Club is you talk about your attack…” – Dave Pearson (49:52)
• Brett, on survivor’s perspective:
  • “…the struggles that we go through is almost universal as humans… Not everyone’s going to be attacked by a shark, but everyone will feel the same things that I’ve felt in going through that struggle.” (54:14)

Lighthearted Moments

• Extended banter about New Zealand’s “Morinsville mega cow” (01:02)
• Farrier “tense[ing] up” at being mistaken for Australian—and his “patronizing” tone (20:14)
• Farrier and Rob’s delight and giggling about “the joy of a blowhole” (56:08)
• Kid cameo: Kelvin’s shark facts, survival plan, and Jaws plot summary (76:49–77:48)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-------------|---------------------------------------------------| | 19:08–21:28 | Aus–NZ rivalry; accent, identity banter | | 22:00–22:45 | Shark attack stats and risk in Australia | | 23:20–28:55 | Brett Canallen’s childhood, surfing life, context | | 29:32–39:30 | Brett’s attack: moment-by-moment narration | | 42:06–42:16 | Introduction to Bite Club | | 43:22–46:40 | Dave Pearson’s shark attack story | | 49:52 | “First rule about Bite Club is…” | | 54:32 | Dave on empathy and lessons learned | | 56:08 | Blowhole banter | | 58:16 | Survivors’ relationship with sharks | | 76:49–77:55 | Kelvin’s facts and Jaws summary |

Additional Resources (as mentioned in the show)

• Show Notes: Links to mutual aid and GoFundMe for fire victims, Bite Club Facebook and Dave Pearson’s contact (for shark attack survivors), motivational speaking page for Brett.
• Next Week's Episode: Seeking California wildfire stories—listeners encouraged to send experiences.

Episode Tone & Final Takeaways

• Tone: Dry, gently sardonic, sometimes irreverent, always curious and humane.
• Takeaways: Shark attacks are rare but searing; their survivors often emerge with humor, wisdom, and increased compassion for others facing hardship. The ocean is a place of high risk and high reward; Australians live with it with practical reverence, not fear. Support groups like Bite Club show the human need for connection through even the rarest of experiences.

For Listeners

• If you’ve faced wildfire or shark attack experiences, contact: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com
• Support and more info: Show notes on the podcast feed with links to aid, support groups, and survivor stories.

Closing Quote

“It’s just ours is just sharks. We’re no more important than any other trauma survivor. It’s just that’s our uniqueness, is that there’s not a lot of us.” — Dave Pearson (49:05)