A man has died near Dee Why on Sydney’s northern beaches after being bitten by what is believed to be a large shark, in what police have called “a great tragedy”.
Shortly after 10am on Saturday, New South Wales emergency services were called to Long Reef beach following reports a man had suffered critical injuries.
Witnesses said the 57-year-old victim was brought ashore by two fellow surfers and that distraught family members rushed to the beach. He died at the scene, according to a statement from NSW police.
Beaches between Manly and Narrabeen were closed pending further advice.
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The man was an experienced surfer from Dee Why who had gone out with friends, NSW police Supt John Duncan told media on Saturday afternoon. He had been in the water for only about half an hour when the shark attacked him.
“As a result of that, he lost a number of limbs. His colleagues managed to make it back to the beach safely. A short time later, his body was found floating in the surf,” Supt Duncan said.
The man suffered “catastrophic injuries” and was not able to be resuscitated.
“We understand he leaves behind a wife and a young daughter. Obviously, tomorrow being Father’s Day, it’s particularly tragic,” Supt Duncan said.
Surf Life Saving NSW’s chief executive, Steve Pearce, expressed “deepest condolences” to the man’s family.
“Volunteers will continue to assist council and authorities to protect the public from further danger in any way we can,” he said. Clubs in the area cancelled all water activity and training for the weekend.
Police said there had been “a lot of people down at the beach” at the time of the incident. Afterwards, a handful of family members and friends consoled each other on the sand, some still in wetsuits.
Two sections of a surfboard were recovered and taken for expert examination, police said. Officers were expected to liaise with experts from the department of primary industries to determine the species of shark involved.
Surf Life Saving NSW drone operators were on the scene, scanning the water for signs of further shark activity, and lifeguards were present to stop people swimming.
Early on Saturday afternoon, the water was still being patrolled by police boat and helicopter, with surf lifesavers on jetskis looking for the shark. A section of beach had been sectioned off with police tape and a marquee set up on the beach.
“My heart goes out to the victim’s family and friends,” NSW premier Chris Minns said in a statement later on Saturday.
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“Shark attacks are rare but they leave a huge mark on everyone involved, particularly the close-knit surfing community.”
It is believed to be the fourth fatal attack in Australian waters this year, and the first in NSW.
In January, a surfer died near Granites beach in South Australia. In February, 17-year-old Charlize Zmuda died after being bitten while swimming in southeast Queensland. In March, a 37-year-old Victorian man died after a fatal attack at a remote beach in Western Australia.
The last fatal attack in Sydney occurred in February 2022, when a British diving instructor, Simon Nellist, was taken by a great white off Little Bay in the city’s east. On the northern beaches, the last known fatal attack was at North Narrabeen 90 years ago.
Shark bites, especially fatal ones, are extremely rare in Australia, said Prof Culum Brown, a behavioural ecologist specialising in fishes including sharks at Macquarie University.
The rate was going up slightly, but it was unclear why, he said – perhaps a factor of more people being in the water, more often, or the shifting distribution of sharks in the oceans due to climate change.
While the species involved in Saturday’s incident was yet to be identified, Prof Brown said it was often juvenile white sharks that bit people.
“They’re at that age where they are investigating new things, and they tend to investigate things with their mouths, so if they take a bite, unfortunately it’s often fatal because they’re such big animals.”
In the last 10 years, an average of 20 people were injured and 2.8 people killed in shark incidents each year, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database. That is compared to 150 coastal drowning deaths last year, including 84 drownings at beaches.
Long Reef Beach does not have a shark net but nearby Dee Why beach does. Drone surveillance is also provided at Dee Why beach during peak swimming seasons. Additional shark alert drumlines were deployed in the area on Saturday between Dee Why and Long Reef beaches.
In July, the NSW government announced it would trial the removal of shark nets from three Sydney and Central Coast beaches. Waverley, Northern Beaches and Central Coast councils were each asked to nominate a beach where the nets could be removed.
The nets were ineffective at preventing bites, but killed hundreds of non-target species such as whales, turtles and dolphins, Prof Brown said. New technology like smart drum lines were more efficient, with almost no bycatch.
Australian research published last year into 196 unprovoked shark incidents found no difference in unprovoked human-shark interactions at netted versus non-netted beaches since the 2000s. – Guardian. Additional reporting: AAP
