A horrific shark attack off a popular Sydney beach has highlighted the danger of Australia’s coastline.
Dozens of swimmers and fishermen witnessed horrifying scenes as the swimmer spent his final moments screaming for help and trying to fight off the monster great white shark on Wednesday afternoon.
The man was swimming off Buchan Point near Little Bay Beach about 4.30pm on Wednesday when he was killed in the city’s first fatal shark attack in almost 60 years.
The swimmer’s remains were later found, including half a wetsuit, with onlookers watching in horror.
Australia’s coastline remains the most dangerous in the world when it comes to sharks.
Deaths as a result of sharks occur more at Australian beaches than anywhere in the world, a study by the International Shark Attack File revealed in January.
Wednesday’s fatality was the sixth shark attack in as many weeks in Australia since the beginning of 2022. That figure is far greater than anywhere in the world this year and already half the amount of shark attacks in Australia in 2021.
Australia’s three unprovoked deaths from 12 unprovoked shark attacks in 2021 led the world.
While the risk of being bitten by a shark is less than one in a million, there have still been fatal incidents taking the lives of beloved Australians.
The deadly scenes off Sydney’s Little Bay Beach on Wednesday came just 10 days after a young woman survived being attacked by a 3.3 metre shark in Western Australia.
Jacquelin Morley, 20, was paddling in an inflatable pool ring offshore at Kelp Beds Beach in Esperance, Westxjmtzywern Australia, when the 3m great white shark sank its teeth into her.
The young swimmer is lucky to be alive after the horror attack as the predator bit into her torso. She managed to swim to shore where locals tended to her before she was flown to hospital in Perth.
Just last year in NSW, proud husband and dad-to-be Timothy Thompson was killed on Father’s Day.
Mr Thompson was surfing at Shelley Beach, north of Coffs Harbour, when his arm was mauled by a great white shark.
The 31-year-old was dragged to shore by nearby surfers and given CPR but he died at the scene, leaving behind pregnant wife, Kate.
Ms Thompson wrote a book about her heartbreak, promising to tell her baby how caring and loved her husband was.
“The last thing Tim said to me before he walked out that door for the last time was, ‘I love you two’. He kissed me and my tummy goodbye,” she wrote.
“I hope Timmy is up there doing what he loves: surfing the best barrels and watching over us.”
British man Paul Millachip, 57, was also killed by sharks while swimming in North Fremantle, Perth, in November last year.
Witnesses say he was swimming next to a dinghy at Port Beach when a tiger shark and great white shark set upon the beloved dad.
Mr Millachip’s wife, who did not wish to be named, told media that she was grateful for nearby swimmers who raised the alarm.
“Rest in peace, Paul. He died (doing) what he enjoyed doing the most, which was exercising. He was a wonderful man, a wonderful father, and he loved his exercise,” she said.
Northern beaches dad Mark Sanguinetti, 59, was on a surfing trip with friends when he was fatally mauled by a shark at Tuncurry Beach on the NSW mid-north coast in May.
Bystanders and paramedics rushed to save him, but he died after the shark mauled his upper right thigh.
Police revealed he had warned friends of the giant predator lurking in the water moments before he was bitten.
“It’s believed that when the attack occurred, the man did actually see the shark and called out to try to warn others, and very heroically his friends were able to bring him back into shore after he had been attacked,” NSW Police Superintendent Chris Schilt said at the time.
While there were three fatal shark attacks last year, there were eight in 2020.
Diver Gary Johnson was killed by a great white shark near Esperance in WA, wildlife ranger Zachary Robba who was mauled to death in the Great Barrier Reef, and surfer Rob Pedretti was killed near Kingscliff in northern NSW.
Spearfisher Matthew Tratt was also mauled to death in a “provoked” attack on Fraser Island in Queensland, surfer Mani Hart-Deville was only 15 when he was killed on the NSW north coast and surfer Nick Slater was mauled to death at Greenmount Beach on the Gold Coast.
The remaining two fatalities in 2020 were father of two Andrew Sharpe, who was also killed near Esperance in WA, and Charles Cernobori, who was killed by a suspected tiger shark while bodyboarding at WA’s Cable Beach.
Researchers recorded 73 unprovoked attacks worldwide in 2021, up from 52 swimmers bitten in 2020.
NSW has long been considered the most active state when it comes to predators in the water, with more than 265 incidents in the past 300 years.
However, long-term trends show a decreasing amount of annual fatalities.
Last year there were six attacks in NSW, two of which were fatal, four in Western Australia, one of which was fatal, and just one in both Queensland and Victoria.
Researchers at the International Shark Attack File credit more people flocking to warm beaches for a rise in attacks.
“As more people have flocked to warm beaches, encounters with sharks have become more common,” a statement read.
Researcher Gavin Naylor said the spike could also be credit to a rise in shark numbers.
“The spike in 2020 and 2021 is almost certainly because of the expanding numbers of white sharks, which have been increasing in various localities, likely in response to a boom in the seal populations they feed on,” he said.
“I think the frequency of white sharks swimming in the same places as humans may be on the rise, but if so, we don’t yet know the cause.”
