The attacks left their inflatable boat partly sunken – prompting them to issue a distress call to nearby vessels in the early hours of Wednesday.
Shark attacks damaged the catamaran's inflatable hull, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.
Unlike great whites or hammerheads, cookiecutter sharks are not usually associated with attacks in the open ocean.
Cookiecutter sharks have only been involved in four confirmed, unprovoked bites, which all happened in Hawaii, it said, citing the International Shark Attack File.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said in a statement Wednesday that “a large section” of the inflatable vessel’s hull was missing when it was found.
Persons:
it’s, –, “, Evgeny Kovalevskiy, Kovalevskiy, ”, Joe Zeller
Organizations:
CNN, Nine, Australian Maritime Safety Authority, Maritime Safety, Florida Museum
Locations:
Australian, Cairns, Vanuatu, Brisbane, Hawaii