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i once had the great
displeasure to be
entirely too close
to a VERY large tiger shark....
i shat
and swum. fast.
Sharks kill teen at Adelaide beach
December 16, 2004 - 8:23PM
Police and beach-goers look for the body of a young surfer taken by a shark at West Beach, Adelaide.
Friends watched two great white sharks attack and kill their 18-year-old surfer mate off an Adelaide beach today.
The man was taken by the sharks while surfboarding behind a boat at West Beach, about 10km west of Adelaide city centre.
One shark attacked the man after he fell from the surfboard, tearing him in half, authorities said.
The other shark took the man's remains.
Police and South Australian emergency services said there had been no sign of the victim or the sharks since the attack, which happened about 3.30pm (CDT).
SA Sea Rescue Squadron spokesman Frasier Bell said one of the sharks, also known as white pointers, was believed to be about five metres long while the other was about 4.5m long.
He said the attack happened 200m-300m offshore on a hot day at a crowded beach.
"He fell off the surfboard and the shark appeared and took him," Mr Bell said.
"It tore him apart ... apparently it tore him in half and the other shark came in and took the rest."
The victim was being towed in a boat containing his three 16-year-old friends, two of whom witnessed the attack.
The four, all from Adelaide's western suburbs, had been on the water for just 30 minutes before the attack occurred.
"They were just boys having a good time, the weather was perfect and they were just out doing what young lads do," Mr Bell said.
He said the teenagers tried in vain to rescue their mate.
"They tried everything they could think of but unfortunately the sharks had taken him by that stage," he said.
"They're in deep shock, they're a wreck. You can just imagine what the victim's parents are going to go through."
Asked if there was any chance the victim had survived, Mr Bell said: "No, none whatsoever".
SA police chief inspector David Lufty_said beaches in the West Beach area would be closed as the search for the killer sharks continued.
He said that in the two hours immediately after the attack no items of significance had been found, lending weight to fears the victim was killed instantly.
Mr Bell said there had been recent reports of shark sightings off Adelaide's metropolitan coast, with the sea squadron issuing a shark warning a couple of weeks ago.
But one concerned local said authorities did little to spread the message of the shark sightings.
Gary Bittle, from the nearby Grange Surf Life Saving Club, said he saw a white pointer swim under his boat while offshore at Grange last weekend.
"We assume it's the same one," Mr Bittle said, referring to today's attack.
The last fatal shark attack off an Adelaide beach was in 1991, when 19-year-old Adelaide university student Jonathon Lee was killed by a white pointer while diving off Aldinga Beach, in the southern suburbs.
displeasure to be
entirely too close
to a VERY large tiger shark....
i shat
and swum. fast.
Sharks kill teen at Adelaide beach
December 16, 2004 - 8:23PM
Police and beach-goers look for the body of a young surfer taken by a shark at West Beach, Adelaide.
Friends watched two great white sharks attack and kill their 18-year-old surfer mate off an Adelaide beach today.
The man was taken by the sharks while surfboarding behind a boat at West Beach, about 10km west of Adelaide city centre.
One shark attacked the man after he fell from the surfboard, tearing him in half, authorities said.
The other shark took the man's remains.
Police and South Australian emergency services said there had been no sign of the victim or the sharks since the attack, which happened about 3.30pm (CDT).
SA Sea Rescue Squadron spokesman Frasier Bell said one of the sharks, also known as white pointers, was believed to be about five metres long while the other was about 4.5m long.
He said the attack happened 200m-300m offshore on a hot day at a crowded beach.
"He fell off the surfboard and the shark appeared and took him," Mr Bell said.
"It tore him apart ... apparently it tore him in half and the other shark came in and took the rest."
The victim was being towed in a boat containing his three 16-year-old friends, two of whom witnessed the attack.
The four, all from Adelaide's western suburbs, had been on the water for just 30 minutes before the attack occurred.
"They were just boys having a good time, the weather was perfect and they were just out doing what young lads do," Mr Bell said.
He said the teenagers tried in vain to rescue their mate.
"They tried everything they could think of but unfortunately the sharks had taken him by that stage," he said.
"They're in deep shock, they're a wreck. You can just imagine what the victim's parents are going to go through."
Asked if there was any chance the victim had survived, Mr Bell said: "No, none whatsoever".
SA police chief inspector David Lufty_said beaches in the West Beach area would be closed as the search for the killer sharks continued.
He said that in the two hours immediately after the attack no items of significance had been found, lending weight to fears the victim was killed instantly.
Mr Bell said there had been recent reports of shark sightings off Adelaide's metropolitan coast, with the sea squadron issuing a shark warning a couple of weeks ago.
But one concerned local said authorities did little to spread the message of the shark sightings.
Gary Bittle, from the nearby Grange Surf Life Saving Club, said he saw a white pointer swim under his boat while offshore at Grange last weekend.
"We assume it's the same one," Mr Bittle said, referring to today's attack.
The last fatal shark attack off an Adelaide beach was in 1991, when 19-year-old Adelaide university student Jonathon Lee was killed by a white pointer while diving off Aldinga Beach, in the southern suburbs.
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