"It really wanted to eat me!" said the survivor of an attack by a great white shark off Transkei, Mathieu Dasnois. After putting up a good fight Dasnois, 29, got away with minor lacerations to his hands and right foot.He was attacked by the 4m shark while diving near Sugarloaf Rock, off Port St Johns on the Wild Coast, on Saturday. He had been in shallow water about 20m from a boat when he spotted a fin heading in his direction."It was bloody huge," said Dasnois yesterday in hospital in Mthatha. "I didn't see the first attack, it gripped my leg, took it in its mouth and swam. I poked it in the eye with my left thumb."The shark let go but came back again. I'm pretty sure it attacked me three times."He was pulled on board the boat that had been nearby and taken to shore, where an ambulance was waiting to take him to hospital.The Port St Johns National Sea Rescue Institute station commander John Costello said the coastline in the area in which Dasnois was attacked had a reputation for shark attacks.But the shark-spotting system introduced on eight beaches in Western Cape would not work there."If you take into consideration things like the dirty water, inaccessible coastline and people swimming in isolated areas, there's not much precaution you can take," said Costello.It is not known why sharks favour cruising off Port St Johns. Scientists are still trying to understand their migratory patterns.The International Shark Attack File, which records shark attacks globally, shows that South Africa had a 10-year average of 4.3 shark attacks a year. Australia averaged 12.5 for the same period.Dasnois's mother, Alide, said her son was in good spirits and expected to be discharged from hospital today. -Additional reporting by © The Daily Telegraph and Daily Dispatch..