A surfer who went lacking off the coast of South Australia is believed to have died in a shark assault, authorities have stated.
Lance Appleby, 28, was within the sea at common browsing website Granites seashore, close to the coastal city of Streaky Bay, on Thursday night when witnesses reported seeing him being attacked.
One witness went into the ocean on a jet ski to retrieve the surfboard Mr Appleby was utilizing on the time, however there was no signal of him, senior constable Rebecca Stokes instructed the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC).
“There was simply no signal of this younger man, there’s simply been no signal of him,” she instructed ABC. “From witnesses’ descriptions, we’re fairly assured that sadly he is been killed by this shark.”
South Australia Police stated an air, land and water search would proceed on 3 January to try to find Mr Appleby’s physique.
Mr Appleby, from Port Lincoln, was an area within the Streaky Bay neighborhood, Sky Information Australia reported.
Assistant police commissioner John De Candia instructed reporters the assault was “completely tragic” and has had a large influence on “a number of folks”.
One other man was killed by a white shark on the identical seashore in 2023. Ms Stokes stated the realm is thought to be frequented by sharks, and the seashore stays closed to the general public.
Dr Brianna Le Busque, a shark researcher from the College of South Australia, instructed Sky Information Australia Mr Appleby was possible attacked by an excellent white shark because the species is extra lively in summer season.
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“There’s extra folks within the ocean in summer season, so it’s extra possible that there are unlucky bites that happen in the course of the summer season months,” Ms Le Busque stated.
The state of South Australia has registered extra shark assaults prior to now two years than ordinary.
There have been 5 assaults off the state’s coast in 2023, three of them deadly and one on the identical seashore as Thursday’s incident. In 2024 there was one non-fatal shark chunk off South Australia’s coast.
