Wellington, New Zealand — A surfer lacking in Australia is believed to have died in a shark attack, authorities stated Friday, as they searched the waters the place the person disappeared. The 28-year-old was within the sea at a well-liked surf seashore in South Australia the place one other man was killed by a white shark in 2023.
A witness who noticed the shark assault on Thursday night at Granites Beach, close to the coastal city of Streaky Bay, rode into the ocean on a jet ski and retrieved the person’s surfboard, Senior Constable Rebecca Stokes instructed the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“But there was simply no signal of this younger man, there’s simply been no signal of him,” Stokes instructed the ABC. “From witnesses’ descriptions we’re fairly assured that sadly he is been killed by this shark.”
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The seashore was recognized to be frequented by sharks, Stokes stated. She didn’t specify what species of shark was believed to be concerned.
Emergency responders and volunteers have been looking out offshore on Friday for the native man and the seashore was closed to the general public. Police have been making ready a coroner’s report, a press release stated.
Shark assaults in Australia are uncommon, with 255 deadly bites recorded since 1791 within the nation of 27 million folks, in line with the Australian Shark Incident Database.
But the state of South Australia has registered extra episodes previously two years than regular. There have been 5 shark assaults off the state’s coast in 2023, three of them deadly and one on the identical seashore as Thursday’s incident.
Scientists on the time stated they didn’t know the rationale for the cluster. There was one non-fatal shark chunk off South Australia’s coast in 2024.
Another Australian surfer made a outstanding return to the waves late final 12 months after struggling a critical shark assault over the summer time off the coast of the neighboring New South Wales state. Kai McKenzie lost his right leg to a 15-foot white shark on July 23, however he vowed not solely to surf once more, however to return to the identical spot the place he was attacked.
In mid-October, lower than three months after he misplaced his leg, he made good on the promise, as documented on his personal Instagram feed.
Researchers printed a research in November that discovered bright lights on surf boards might really assist to forestall shark assaults, probably by making the boards and their riders seem much less like seals to the predators.
