28-Year-Old Surfer Killed in Shark Attack in Southern Australia

Emergency crews are searching for the body of a 28-year-old surfer who was killed in a shark attack in South Australia.

The surfer, identified as Lance Appleby from Port Lincoln, was attacked by a shark just after 7pm on Thursday while surfing near Granites beach, south of Streaky bay on the Eyre peninsula, according to witnesses.

Police immediately responded and began a search, alongside the State Emergency Service and local volunteers, but as of Friday afternoon, Appleby's body was yet to be found.

An air, land and water search resumed early Friday morning. The beach remains closed to the public, and the community was urged to avoid the area. The popular surf location is about 700km north-west of Adelaide.

Acting assistant commissioner of metropolitan operations, John De Candia, said police believed Appleby was taken by a shark, and emergency crews were working to recover his body.

"A report will be prepared for the coroner," he told the media on Friday. "It's a very sad and tragic circumstance for the family. "Any death in these circumstances is absolutely tragic and does have a wide impact on lots of people."

De Candia said community members had reported sighting sharks in the area, and "sometimes its best to listen to the locals." "At the end of the day people need to make up their own minds in relation to enjoying the ocean."

There have been other shark attacks in the area in recent years. In 2023 a teacher, Simon Baccanello, 46, died in a suspected shark attack while surfing at Walkers Rock beach on Eyre Peninsula, and 55-year-old Tod Gendle was killed while surfing at Granites beach. Neither of their bodies were recovered.

In the same year, 15-year-old Khai Cowley was mauled by a suspected great white while surfing off the remote Ethel beach on the Yorke peninsula.