Search for surfer at scene of fatal 2023 shark attack
A search will resume on Friday morning for the body of a surfer who was attacked by a shark off South Australia’s west coast.
Police said witnesses saw the attack at popular surf beach the Granites, near Streaky Bay, about 7.10pm Thursday evening.
Emergency services rushed to the area on the Eyre Peninsula to undertake a search, and the beach was closed to the public.
The victim has been identified as Lance Appleby, a 28-year-old man from Port Lincoln.
Lance Appleby. Photo: Supplied.
A full air, water and land search would resume on Friday.
Hours before the attack, locals had posted a warning to Facebook about a large great white shark “acting aggressively” near the Granites.
That prompted social media users to comment on the prevalence of the apex creatures in the deep waters off that coast.
“Known area for them, l have caught them years ago while sharking for gummy and school shark,” wrote Leon Wright.
It’s the same beach that surfer Tod Gendle was knocked off his board and taken by a shark in October 2023, with his body never recovered.
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Late last week, a spear fisherman was killed by a shark in central Queensland.
Youth pastor Luke Walford, 40, was reportedly bitten on the neck near Humpy Island, in the Keppel Bay Islands National Park, on Saturday.
