Kneeboard Surfing USA Community Forum

Teen surfer killed by two sharks

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A young Australian surfer has been killed in a horrifying attack by two great white sharks at a popular Adelaide beach, the second fatal attack in five days, rescue officials and witnesses say.
Witnesses reported seeing the two sharks -- one up to five metres (16 feet) long -- attack the teenager while he was being towed behind a boat on his surfboard.

"It got his left arm and took him around the boat and then another shark has come in and they just took him to pieces," an unidentified woman told Nine Network television on Thursday.

Police and emergency officials said they had been unable to find any sign of the surfer or the sharks since the mid-afternoon attack off West Beach in the South Australian state capital of Adelaide.

They said the attack happened after the surfer, described as an 18-year-old, fell from his surfboard which was being towed by three friends in a small boat about 300 metres (980 feet) from shore.

"He fell off the surfboard and the shark appeared and took him," rescue worker Fraser Bell told reporters.

"Apparently it tore him in half and the other shark came in and took the rest," he said.

A 38-year-old died after he was mauled by a shark while spearfishing off the far northeast coast of tropical Queensland state on Saturday. The species of the shark which attacked him was not known, police said at the time.

In July, another surfer died in Western Australia state when he was attacked by a shark described as being "as big as a car".

Australia has a reputation for shark attacks but there are relatively few each year. International Shark File figures show most attacks occur in North American waters.

The first documented attack in Australian waters was in 1791 and there have been more than 625 attacks in the past 200 years, about 190 of them fatal.

Great white sharks are highly migratory and travel thousands of kilometres in search of food. Despite being one of the fiercest of predators, they are also extremely vulnerable and are a protected species in Australian waters.

© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.

Ouch!!!

The South Australian Authorities have lifted the protection on the 4m great white that killed the skurfer near Adelaide. This means that the shark is now being hunted and will be killed if found.

Do you think this is an appropriate response?

In my opinion... actually im not really sure I have one.

I dont think there is enough research that would indicate the tendency of one shark to attack a human over another... From my experience they mostly attach humans by mistake.

But the question remains... what do we do now??? My answer is ' I dont know '

thats my ramblings for now...

With a little lemon and tarter sauce.........sure. I grew up hunting and fishing and was taught not to waste what I killed.

I think it's pretty infantile revenge fantasy to go after that particular shark. Like some kind of "Jaws" thing where that shark is now going to hunt humans cause they taste so good and squirm so nice going down. Sharks are predators, first last and always. The ocean is not civilization. You go in the ocean, the rules are made by Mother Nature. I think we need more sharks not less. If someone wanted to do something in memory of the guy that got eaten, they could take the money wasted on gunning for one particular shark and invested it in developing a workable shark repellant for surfers.

By the by, I am not a vegetarian nor anti-hunting. I just prefer to be conscious and clear about what is going on. If you want to hunt shark, be aware that they are getting fished out and have some respect and a damn good reason for hunting them.

leave the shark alone.......and net the beach......like the east coast

personally,revenge is not an option.Although I've heard it was hoped to recover some body pieces[morbid]for some matter of closure.
Perhaps if we were all a bit more aware about the inviornment that we play in.?
Speaking for myself,I'm aware of what is going on around me at all times.In other words I know all the sea birds mammals and whales and when they are around.I don't hear music running thru my head,only the sound that ocean oriented.Anything out of the ordinary,and I'm out of there.
Quite a few people up here have that other sense,and respond accordingly.
My buddy pete[shark bit]Explained to me,that there signs,bird activty,and a lack of harbor seal activity,that may have been telling him something-He said he didn't pay any attention....


MY heart goes out to those who have lost friends and family members.

K

They caught and killed the shark that attacked Bethany Hamilton. They caught the shark 100 yards from where she was attacked about 3 days later. Apparently the shark had taken a likely to the area and was hanging about the break.

Would you have surfed tunnels knowing that sized shark was hanging out at that break?

..

about a week ago two co-workers were surfing at Polulu valley. they were both pretty far outside and sitting close to each other when a approx. 8' tiger shark bumped the nose of my friends board from underneath knocking him back a couple of feet. the shark did a quick u-turn and hit him again with it's tail. the two quickly made it to shore. they were by themselves (or so they thought) and scoring some nice 4' waves. i suppose the crowds don't look so un-appealing to them now.

SHARKS > DRUNK DRIVERS > GANG BANGERS > FAST FOOD > BAD AIR > ECT.>.............>............>...........................................................

ODD'S ARE NOT GOOD

The Queensland and New South Wales state governments manage shark meshing programs off metropolitan surf beaches. These programs use mesh nets and set lines to target large sharks. The aim is to reduce the local shark population and given the low growth and reproductive rates of sharks they are quite successful. The number of shark attacks at meshed beaches dropped dramatically once these programs were implemented.

The programs aren't perfect - there is occassional entanglement of sea turtle and whales in the nets but I believe these programs are justified for mainstream tourist areas. Last time I checked the Surfrider foundation was opposed to these programs so obviously other viewpoints exist.

Western Australia and South Australia don't have such programs and the authorities and media seem to get into a flap when an attack occurs off a city beach. A further complication is that great whites are a protected species in Australia. In the recent case the family of the young man who was killed did not support destruction of the shark.

I hope my post doesn't upset anyone affected by a shark attack.

Shelfbreak wrote:
I hope my post doesn't upset anyone affected by a shark attack.

I applaud your post for its transparency and its truth(s)..

And the unopiniated delivery.

On topic totally

The Family did not want the creature hunted..despite their loss.

I reckon, it's their call in this instance.



hart

PS

Don't play in the Ocean if you won't accept her consequence(s)