10-foot-long great white shark mauls surfer to death even as two heroes tried to fight it off
A 60-year-old surfer was mauled to death by a 10ft great white shark off the coast of Australia on Sunday, June 7, morning, according to reports. The man, who has not been identified, was bitten on the back of his left thigh before two men eventually managed to fight off the shark.
The victim, from Queensland, was brought to the shore by other surfers off Salt Beach in South Kingscliff, New South Wales. He, however, succumbed to his injuries at the scene. Authorities later confirmed that the particular shark had been sighted on a "number of occasions" before the fatal attack occurred.
The state's Department of Primary Industries said that after assessing the photographs of the victim, a shark biologist confirmed that a great white shark was responsible for the attack.
New South Wales Police Detective Inspector Matt Kehoe released a statement on the incident, saying: "The male was taken out of the water with the assistance of some other surfers in the area. But tragically he has passed away at the scene. He suffered a significant injury to his left leg."
The detective also appreciated the heroic efforts of other surfers near the victim, who attempted to save the man. "The shark has been sighted on a number of occasions just off the shore," Detective Kehoe said. "The actions of those people was nothing short of heroic today in making every attempt to try and save this gentleman. But sadly that couldn't be the case."
Meanwhile, the New South Wales Ambulance Inspector Terence Savage said that they did not know about the full extent of the damage before arriving at the scene, and added that it was a dreadful situation for everyone involved at the time. "When you get a call to attend a shark attack, you never really know the full extent of the damage until you get on scene," Savage said. "They did everything they could to try and save his life, but despite their best efforts, were unable to do so."
Shortly after the incident, nearby beaches were promptly cleared of swimmers and surfers. Authorities said that the region would continue to remain close for nearly 24 hours.
A resident of Kingscliff, identified as Stuart Gonsal, told the Sun, that he had just reached the bench for surfing when he found out about the shark attack.
"We came down and we hadn’t got in the water and police were immediately hauling people in," he said. "We found out there was a fatal shark attack on the south side of the rock wall. We were going to get in, were not going to now for sure."
Reports state that this was the third shark attack in Australia this year, resulting in fatality. Earlier this year, in January, a diver was also mauled to death near Esperance off the Western Australia state coast, and in April, a 23-year-old wildlife worker was killed by a shark on the Great Barrier Reef. The victim was identified by Iona College as Zachary Robba, a 2014 graduate. Authorities said that he had been doing maintenance work when the attack occurred.