WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) 鈥� A surfer missing in Australia is believed to have died in a attack, authorities said Friday, as they searched the waters where the man disappeared.
The 28-year-old was in the sea at a popular surf beach in South Australia where another man was killed by a white shark in 2023.
A witness who saw the shark attack on Thursday evening at Granites Beach, near the coastal town of Streaky Bay, rode into the sea on a jet ski and retrieved the man鈥檚 surfboard, Senior Constable Rebecca Stokes told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
鈥淏ut there was just no sign of this young man, there鈥檚 just been no sign of him,鈥� Stokes told the ABC. 鈥淔rom witnesses鈥� descriptions we鈥檙e pretty confident that sadly he鈥檚 been killed by this shark.鈥�
The beach was known to be frequented by sharks, Stokes said. She did not specify what species of shark was believed to be involved.
Emergency responders and volunteers were searching offshore on Friday for the local man and the beach was closed to the public. Police were preparing a coroner鈥檚 report, a statement said.
Shark attacks in Australia are rare, with 255 recorded since 1791 in the country of 27 million people, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database.
But the state of South Australia has registered more episodes in the past two years than usual. There were five shark attacks of the state鈥檚 coast in 2023, and one at the same beach as Thursday鈥檚 incident.
Scientists at the time said they did not know the reason for the cluster. There was one non-fatal shark bite off South Australia鈥檚 coast in 2024.
Charlotte Graham-mclay, The Associated Press
