The search for the body of a 55-year-old surfer will resume this morning, following a suspected fatal shark attack on South Australia’s far west coast yesterday.
Key points:
- A search will resume this morning for a 55-year-old surfer presumed dead in a shark attack
- Witnesses reported the attack near Granites Beach, south of Streaky Bay, yesterday morning
- One local says he went into the water on his jet ski to search for the victim and saw a 14-foot great white
SA Police said witnesses reported seeing a shark attack the man who was surfing near Granites Beach, south of Streaky Bay, at about 10:20am yesterday.
Emergency services and local volunteers searched the area yesterday but were unable to find the man’s body.
Streaky Bay resident Jeff Schmucker told ABC Radio Adelaide that he went into the water on his jet ski to search for the surfer shortly after the incident yesterday morning.
Mr Schmucker said he went to where witnesses said the incident occurred and turned off his jet ski and “within a minute, a great white of 14-feet or so” approached.
He said he followed the shark “around in circles” for six or seven laps, but he could not see anything.
“At one point I could have reached over and touched the dorsal fin of the shark as it came out of the water,” he said.
Mr Schmucker said the incident had hit close to home.
“It’s not just yesterday’s events either, it just rams home events from the last 20 to 30 years … it shakes everybody,” he said.
The attack is the second serious incident of its kind in SA waters in weeks.
Last month, a woman suffered leg injuries when she was attacked by a shark while taking part in an early morning group swim at Beachport in the state’s south-east.
That attack came months after a fatal incident near Elliston, about 120km from Streaky Bay, in which a local teacher was attacked by a shark an estimated 30 to 50 metres offshore.