A New Zealand conservationist's recovering from a knife wound, after being attacked near where Sir Peter Blake was murdered.

Captain Pete Bethune of Earthrace Conservation fended off what could have been a deadly blow after being attacked by two men in Brazil.

Bethune fought with two men in the port of Santander, where he was trying to hire a boat while looking into the local wildlife trade.

But he was stabbed in the chest by a rusty kitchen knife one attacker was wielding.

"[Blake] anchored his boat there and authorities told him the town was too dodgy and moved him to Macapa where he was murdered.

"It's all in that same area, I think it's just coincidence but it is a really difficult area."

Bethune told Radio NZ, "I honestly thought I was gone. We fell to the ground and I felt the knife go into my ribs, I thought my number had come up."

 

After the men ran off he took a taxi to his hotel where he patched himself up before making his way to hospital.

The doctor told him the blade was wedged between the ribs and if it had been at a different angle would have penetrated much further.

"This is not the first time I've been attacked... I am lucky to be alive and I am counting my blessings"

Bethune had just been visiting nearby Macapa Prison, where the six men jailed for Sir Peter Blake's 2001 murder are being held.

The 52-year-old is known for his 2008 round-the-world record in the bio-fuelled Earthrace trimaran. In 2010 he spent four months in a Tokyo jail following anti- whaling activities in Antarctic waters.

- additional reporting, NZN