Wellington, New Zealand — A missing Australian surfer is believed to have died after being attacked by a shark, authorities said Friday as they searched the area where the man went missing.
The 28-year-old was in the water at a popular surf beach in South Australia where another man was killed by a great white shark in 2023.
Witnesses who saw the shark attack at Granites Beach near the coastal town of Streaky Bay on Thursday night went into the water on a jet ski and recovered the man’s surfboard, Senior Constable Rebecca Stokes told Australian Broadcasting. told the association.
“But there was no sign of this young man. There was just no sign of him,” Stokes told the ABC. “From eyewitness accounts, we’re pretty sure he was killed by this shark, sadly.”
Stokes said the beach was known to be frequented by sharks. He did not say what species of shark is believed to be involved.
The beach was closed to the public on Friday as emergency responders and volunteers searched offshore for a local man. Police are preparing an autopsy report, the statement said.
Shark attacks are rare in Australia, with 255 fatal incidents recorded in the country of 27 million people since 1791, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database.
However, South Australia has recorded more episodes than usual in the past two years. There were five shark attacks on the state’s beaches in 2023, three of which were fatal, and one occurred on the same beach as Thursday’s incident.
Scientists at the time said they did not know what caused the cluster. One non-fatal shark bite occurred off the coast of South Australia in 2024.
