An Australian diver survived a second shark attack in 10 years Tuesday. He is now recovering in a Perth hospital. Diver Greg Pickering, 55, was gored by a great white shark near Esperance in Western Australia. He suffered injuries to his head and face during the attack. His first attack occurred in 2004, where he was bitten in the leg while spearfishing near Cervantes, north of Perth, Western Australia.

In 2009, Pickering had another close call when the boat in which he was diving capsized. "When the shark grabbed me it just sort of struck bone," Reuters reported Pickering as saying.

"I felt the teeth go right into the bone," he said.

He was flown by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to a Perth Royal Hospital from a local hospital in Esperance to undergo a 10-hour surgery. On Wednesday, he was reportedly in a stable condition.

Southern Wild Abalone, the company where Pickering worked, said in a statement he suffered "substantial injuries." He was helped by a nearby vessel.

"Another diver's boat was in the vicinity so they have come to assist the crew, gave first aid and obviously brought the diver's vessel to shore and administered first aid while this diver remained on the deck of his boat and rendezvous with the ambulance," the company spokesman told ABC.

Despite the attack, commercial divers do not think there should be any retribution against sharks.

Speaking to ABC, Chris Johns, another commercial diver said they know the risks when they dive. He added commercial divers do not expect 100 percent safety or retribution if a shark attacks. Johns has made 4,500 dives along the South Coast of WA, according to ABC.

"It's part of the job, we make commercial decisions, people like Greg and I, when we do this," he noted.

"We're in this animal's backyard because of money basically."

The risk, however, is not very prominent. Despite a very large population of sharks in Australian waters, the fatality figures have averaged only a little more than one attack per year over the last 50 years.

Watch Greg Pickering being shifted to the hospital:

Source: NTDTV/YouTube

Pickering was lucky for the second time. What if he was unfortunate to overcome the attack? Watch the full documentary on "Inside Nature's Giants Great White Shark"

Source: David Ponting/YouTube