This story originally appeared in The Inertia.
BY COOPER GEGAN
For the past two days, emergency crews have been searching for the body of a surfer killed by a shark in South Australia. The search for the 55-year-old male surfer has yielded only a piece of wetsuit and part of his surfboard.
The victim, known only as Todd, was a nomad who pursued surfing around Australia, according to the South Western Times. He had moved to that area only recently and was unfamiliar with the spot, which is a great white shark breeding ground.
The attack occurred around 10:20 am on Tuesday at Granite Rock (also called Granites), a popular surf break south of Streaky Bay. The victim was in the water with around a dozen other surfers when witnesses saw the attack take place.
“He grabbed him, pulled him back down, brought him back up, pulled him back down again,” one witness told 7 News.
Local surfer Jeff Schmucker raced out on a jet ski to find the victim. Instead, he found himself being circled by an approximately 4-meter-long great white shark that he presumed was the same animal that attacked the victim. Schmucker then found the remains of the man’s surfboard with a large bite mark.
Police quickly began looking for the missing surfer, deploying helicopters, boats, and jet skis to scan the water. The search has now entered its third day.
