Missing surfer in Australia believed to have died in shark attack, police say

3 January 2025, 02:53

A beach closed following a shark attack
A beach closed following a shark attack. Picture: Getty

By Josef Al Shemary

A surfer who went missing in Australia is thought to have died in a shark attack, authorities said on Friday, as they searched the waters where the man disappeared.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The 28-year-old was in the sea at a popular surf beach in South Australia where another man was killed by a white shark in 2023.

Authorities now say they believe the surfer died in a shark attack, after he went missing on Thursday.

A witness who saw the shark attack on Thursday evening at Granites Beach, near the coastal town of Streaky Bay, rode into the sea on a jet ski and retrieved the man's surfboard, Senior Constable Rebecca Stokes told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"There was just no sign of this young man, there's just been no sign of him," she told ABC.

Read more: Hundreds of dinosaur footprints discovered on ‘dinosaur highway’ in Oxfordshire quarry

Read more: King Charles 'won't stand in way' if Australia chooses to axe monarchy and become republic

"From witnesses' descriptions, we're pretty confident that sadly he's been killed by this shark."

The beach is known to be frequented by sharks, Ms Stokes said.

She did not specify what species of shark was involved, but South Australia's coastline is known to be populated with great white sharks.

Emergency responders and volunteers were searching offshore on Friday for the local man and the beach was closed to the public.

Police were preparing a coroner's report, a statement said.

Shark attacks in Australia are rare with 255 fatal bites recorded since 1791 in the country of 27 million people, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database.

The state of South Australia has registered more episodes in the past two years than usual.

There were five shark attacks off the state's coast in 2023, three of them fatal and one at the same beach as Thursday's incident.

Scientists at the time said they did not know the reason for the cluster.

There was one non-fatal shark bite off South Australia's coast in 2024.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Breaking
Breaking News

Two Chinese soldiers captured fighting in Ukraine, Zelenskyy says

Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim was fatally stabbed in Huddersfield

Boy, 16, fatally stabbed in Huddersfield was refugee who fled Syria and dreamed of becoming doctor

Yossi Benayoun

Former Premier League star 'survives grenade attack on home'

Breaking
New Scotland Yard

Serving Met Police officer charged with four counts of rape

FILE - A North Korean military guard post, top, and South Korean post, bottom, are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Friday, May 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

South Korean military fire at North Korean soldiers 'crossing demarcation line'

Jorge Bolano of Parma

Cause of death revealed after World Cup star dies aged 47 as Gianluigi Buffon leads tributes

Rachel Reeves has told Brits 'we have your backs'

'We've got your back,' Rachel Reeves tells Brits as she warns Trump's tariffs have 'huge implications' for economy

Boy, 15, and girl, 13, guilty of manslaughter following the death of Leicester pensioner Bhim Kohli

Boy, 15, and girl, 13, guilty of manslaughter following the death of Leicester dog walker Bhim Kohli

File photo of a Ukrainian soldier, with forces confirmed to be in a second Russian border region

'War must return where it came from': Ukraine forces 'active in second Russian border region', Zelenskyy confirms

Dismembered body of British scientist found in suitcase after vanishing in Columbia

Dismembered body of British scientist found in suitcase after vanishing in Colombia

Exclusive
Wes Streeting hopes booking a GP appointment will be easier by the next election

Wes Streeting unable to say when '8am scramble' for GP appointments will end despite earlier promises

Irmgard Furchner

Nazi 'Secretary of Evil' convicted for murders of 10,500 Holocaust victims dies aged 99

Rugby players tackling during game

Lowering height of rugby tackles linked to 45 per cent drop in head collisions, study finds

a biotech start-up has announced the animals had been brought back to life

Dire wolf extinct for 12,500 years 'brought back to life', scientists claim

Jack Grealish

Jack Grealish 'slapped in the face by Manchester United fan' in derby, as man charged with assault

A police cordon in Elm Street, South Moor, Stanley, County Durham, where a man was fatally shot.

Tributes paid to 'thoroughly decent’ dad, 60, shot dead through window in broad daylight in County Durham