WELLINGTON, New Zealand –
A surfer missing in Australia is believed to have died in a shark attack, authorities said Friday as they searched the waters where the man disappeared.
The 28-year-old was in the sea at a popular surfing beach in South Australia, where a great white shark killed another man in 2023.
A witness who saw the shark attack Thursday night off Granites Beach, near the coastal town of Streaky Bay, went out to sea on a jet ski and recovered the man’s surfboard, Officer Rebecca Stokes told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“But there was just no sign of this young man, there was just no sign of him,” Stokes told ABC. “From witness descriptions, we’re pretty sure he was unfortunately killed by this shark.”
The beach was known to be frequented by sharks, Stokes said. He did not specify which species of shark was believed to be involved.
Emergency services and volunteers were searching for the local man offshore on Friday and the beach was closed to the public. Police were preparing a forensic report, according to a statement.
Shark attacks in Australia are rare: 255 fatal bites have been recorded since 1791 in a country of 27 million people, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database.
But the state of South Australia has recorded more episodes than usual in the last two years. There have been five shark attacks off the state’s coast in 2023, three of them fatal and one on the same beach as Thursday’s incident.
Scientists at the time said they did not know the group’s motive. In 2024 there was a non-fatal shark bite off the coast of South Australia.
