"He was actually bitten by the head down, the shark swallowed his head,'' Mr Luobikis said. Taking a second bite, the white pointer clenched its jaws around his torso, tearing deep lacerations in either side of his body.

Against the odds, Mr Nerhus, a well-known local diver of more than five years' experience, managed to free himself from the shark's jaws, and was pulled back aboard the boat by his son. Two other young divers in a nearby boat rendered immediate first aid and one radioed his father, who was flying overhead in a spotter plane, to call for emergency help. He was flown to Wollongong Hospital instead of the closer Canberra Hospital because the Snowy Hydro Rescue Helicopter carrying the man must fly low to ground.

"He was diving so we have to fly low to the ground, and there are mountains on the way to Canberra,'' Snowy Hydro spokeswoman Debbie Lowry said. "When you dive you have got to a minimum of two hours adjusting ... it's decompression. The oxygen in your lungs need time to readjust or you get the bends.''

She said the diver had told the helicopter crew that he had managed to get free after the shark bit down on him, then poked the animal in the eye. The helicopter also had to stop and refuel in Merimbula because the rescue crew had been on their way to another job before getting the emergency call. Mr Luobikis, 53, said it was a miracle his friend had lived to tell the tale.

"Eric is a tough boy, he's super fit,'' he said. "But I would say that would test anyone's resolve, being a fish lunch.'' "He'd have a better chance of winning the lotto (than surviving that attack), and I think he would have rather done that.''

There had been a rash of white pointer sightings in recent weeks thanks to unusually cold waters off Eden, but such an attack was unheard of, Mr Luobikis said. "I have been a professional diver in Eden for 36 years and I'm not aware of any white pointer attacks in that time,'' he said. Rough conditions had deterred many divers from venturing out this morning, Mr Luobikis said.

- with AAP