A search is on for a surfer feared to have been killed in a shark attack off the Australian coast

Wellington, New Zealand A missing surfer in Australia is believed to have died Shark attackFriday as they searched the waters where the man disappeared, authorities said. The 28-year-old was out to sea at a popular surf beach in South Australia where another man was killed by a white shark in 2023.

Chief Constable Rebecca Stokes told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the witness who saw the shark attack on Thursday evening at Granites Beach, near the coastal town of Streaky Bay, rode out to sea on a jet ski and retrieved the man’s surfboard.

“But there was no trace of this young man, no sign of him,” Stokes told ABC. He added: “From the witnesses’ descriptions, we are quite confident that he was unfortunately killed by this shark.”

Stokes said the beach is known to be frequented by sharks. It did not specify what type of sharks were believed to be involved.

Emergency responders and volunteers were searching the sea on Friday for the local man and the beach was closed to the public. A statement said that the police are preparing a coroner’s report.

Shark attacks in Australia are rare, with 255 fatal bites recorded since 1791 in the country with a population of 27 million, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database.

But South Australia has recorded more episodes in the past two years than usual. There have been five shark attacks off the state’s coast in 2023, three of them fatal and one on the same beach where Thursday’s incident occurred.

Scientists at the time said they did not know the cause of the mass. There was one non-fatal shark bite off the coast of South Australia in 2024.

Another Australian surfer made a remarkable return to the waves late last year after suffering a serious shark attack during the summer off the coast of neighboring New South Wales. Kay McKenzie lost his right leg to a 15-foot white shark on July 23, but he vowed to not only surf again, but to return to the same place where he was attacked.

In mid-October, less than three months after losing his leg, he fulfilled his promise, as documented on his own. Instagram feed.

Researchers published a study in November that found Flashing lights on surfboards It could actually help prevent shark attacks, likely by making the boards and their occupants look less like seals to predators.