Simon Baccanello: Teacher believed dead after shark attack was 'dragged' underwater for 15 minutes
ELLISTON, AUSTRALIA: A search operation for a teacher, believed to be dead, is on after he was severely mauled by a shark at Walkers Rock Beach, near Elliston, on Saturday, May 13. Simon Baccanello was reportedly surfing along with several people, including children, when the predator attacked him and took him underwater for more than 15 minutes.
The 46-year-old was attacked just 50 meters away from the beach, The Sun reported. Eyewitness Jaidan Millar said, “I saw his board tombstoning, which means he’s underwater and his board’s getting dragged under, trying to fight his way back up to the surface. He was gone. (We) saw the shark just thrashing around out the back.”
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‘It could have been anyone’
The 22-year-old also mentioned, “The shark's obviously let go and come back and got him for a third time. We all looked at each other like, what do we do? I yelled out, ‘Call an ambulance,’ but I’m sure the bloke on the beach had already been on the phone trying to get a hold of the ambulance. It was such a confronting incident. There were 15 or 20 people out there today. It could have been anyone.”
Baccanello worked at Elliston Area School and after the incident, principal Chad Fleming told 7News, “He was just an absolute gem of a bloke, an absolutely dedicated teacher. I’ve known this guy for five months and I feel like we’ve been mates for 10 years. It’s gonna be a challenge ... we’re all a bit numb at the minute.”
Search ongoing
A statement was also issued by the man’s family, which said, “The family are grateful for the support of the Elliston community, family and friends, and would appreciate their privacy as they process this tragic loss.”
Meanwhile, regarding the search operation, Superintendent Paul Bahr from SA Police's Eyre and Western Local Service Area reportedly shared, “The suggestion is that anything in the water will wash to shore rather than wash out to sea.” He told ABC, “We'll be doing the beaches around Walkers Rock … and we'll be checking for any signs that might point to what occurred.”
Bahr also added, “We continued the search along the shore along Walkers Rock yesterday. We are in the process of putting together a report which will go to the coroner. We've got SES [State Emergency Service], CFS [Country Fire Service], we've got the local police again and without the help of those volunteers I think we'd be struggling to have a reasonable search.”
‘Great white shark territory’
Besides, Streaky Bay SES unit manager Trevlyn Smith claimed that Baccanello’s surfboard has been retrieved from the water. He noted, “That was picked up pretty quickly ... it had just one bite in the middle.” Later, his wetsuit was also found.
Streaky Bay charter boat operator Jonas Woolford, who was in Elliston when Baccanello was mauled, told ABC, “Our coastline is definitely known for great white sharks … we're very much aware that it's great white shark territory. There were boats of locals on the scene very quickly afterward, I think it was in a matter of 10 minutes.”
“As far as I'm aware, there was nothing other than his surfboard, there was just no sign, nothing could be found. [I] really feel for his family and his friends down there. I didn't know him personally, but his mates are my mates. It's just terrible news. It's been over 20 years since the last fatality on that particular coastline, fortunately, but it's something that we live with daily. It's always on the back of our minds,” Woolford stated.