{"id":124625,"date":"2025-09-07T03:23:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T03:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/124625\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T03:23:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T03:23:21","slug":"mercury-psillakis-surfer-dies-in-dee-why-shark-attack-after-being-mauled-prompting-major-emergency-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/124625\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercury Psillakis: Surfer dies in Dee Why shark attack after being mauled, prompting major emergency response"},"content":{"rendered":"

The identity of a surfer who died after being mauled by a shark on Sydney\u2019s Northern Beaches, has been revealed as details emerge that he was a loving husband and father to a little girl.<\/p>\n

Mercury Psillakis, 57, is believed to have lost both his legs before his body was brought to shore by surfers at Dee Why beach just after 10am on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Mr Psillakis, a twin, was an experienced surfer and local to the area.<\/p>\n

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He was reportedly only in the water for 30 minutes before the attack.<\/p>\n

A shark alarm was triggered at the beach, which has a shark net installed.<\/p>\n

A witness told Daily Mail<\/a> they saw a group of people \u2018crying in a circle\u2019 just metres from the water. It is understood one of Mr Psillakis\u2019 relatives collapsed into the sand, while another was supported by loved ones.<\/p>\n

\"MrMr Psillakis, a twin, was an experienced surfer and local to the area.\u00a0 Credit: Facebook<\/p>\n

Police confirmed the incident occurred just after 9am, with members of the public bringing the male victim to shore.<\/p>\n

He was retrieved from the surf and brought to shore but died at the scene.<\/p>\n

Police have closed the beach and will liaise with experts to determine the species of shark involved, but say they believe it to have been a \u201clarge shark.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two sections of a surfboard have been recovered and taken for examination.<\/p>\n

Northern Beaches Police Area Command Inspector Stuart Thomson told reporters on Saturday afternoon that the man lost \u201ca number of limbs\u201d in the attack.<\/p>\n

\"MercuryMercury Psillakis was an experienced surfer, pictured here surfing in Samoa. Credit: Facebook<\/p>\n

\u201cHis body was found floating in the surf, and a couple of other people went out and recovered it but attempts to save his life were unsuccessful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand he leaves behind a wife and a young daughter \u2013 with tomorrow being Father\u2019s Day, it\u2019s particularly tragic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gentleman is an experienced surfer. He was here with a number of mates and \u2026 he\u2019d only been in the water for about half an hour at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspector Thomson said the man\u2019s surfboard was broken in half.<\/p>\n

\"PolicePolice have described the man\u2019s death on Father\u2019s Day weekend as \u201cparticularly tragic\u201d. Credit: NewsWire\/News Corp Australia<\/p>\n

\u201cA couple of other surfers managed to see him the surf and got him back out, but by that time he lost a lot of blood and resuscitation was not possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had suffered catastrophic injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have the exact time how long he was missing but I understand it was a short time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspector Thomson said nearby surfers came to the man\u2019s aid, but could not confirm if they knew there was a shark attack when they jumped into the water.<\/p>\n

\"MercuryMercury Psillakis, 57, is believed to have lost both his legs before his body was brought to shore by surfers. Credit: Facebook<\/p>\n

\u201cFour or five surfers pulled him out of the water and it looked like a significant part of his lower half had been attacked,\u201d said one surfer to the Daily Telegraph<\/a>, who witnessed the aftermath.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t work on him when they got to the beach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Authorities immediately cleared swimmers and surfers from the water along the entire stretch between Dee Why and Long Reef.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a surf life saving guy waving a red flag,\u201d the surfer added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know what it was… but thought I should probably go in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sydney local Sophie Lumsden described the swift emergency response: \u201cI was sitting at the beach having a coffee and the shark alarm went off. Two minutes later, four ambulances turned up,\u201d she told the Daily Telegraph.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe beach is expected to remain closed for at least 48 hours. Credit: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is someone on the beach but it doesn\u2019t look like they are doing much treating. They haven\u2019t taken them off the beach yet, and cops are surrounding them. It doesn\u2019t look good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lifeguard walked past me. I heard them say they were going to have to call the victim\u2019s parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

A junior surfing competition is believed to have been underway nearby at the time of the attack.<\/p>\n

Emergency crews, including the Westpac rescue helicopter, swarmed the area, drawing a crowd of onlookers outside the Dee Why Surf Life Saving Club.<\/p>\n

Paramedics were later seen leaving the scene, their gear in hand, as police secured the area.<\/p>\n

Beaches from Manly to Narrabeen have been closed pending further advice.<\/p>\n

The identity of the man is to be confirmed.<\/p>\n

Dee Why Beach currently has nets in place, following recent government discussions on whether to continue or remove them at selected beaches this summer.<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople on jet skis are still looking for the shark. Photo: NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n

The last fatal shark incident in Sydney was in 2022 when Simon Nellist was killed at Little Bay, marking the first such death since 1963.<\/p>\n

The tragedy comes as three council areas move towards trialling removing shark nets.<\/p>\n

Central Coast councillors all voted in favour of a NSW government trial to remove shark nets from beaches this summer, with representatives saying it was \u201calways disappointing\u201d to see other wildlife caught in the netting.<\/p>\n

The state government has asked Waverley, Northern Beaches and Central Coast councils to select a beach to trial the removal of the nets.<\/p>\n

The Department of Primary Industries is expected to select which beaches will be involved in the trial.<\/p>\n

The three councils said at the time new technologies were available to prevent shark attacks.<\/p>\n

Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins said the council had long been advocating for the removal of the nets from all beaches, and looked forward to receiving more information about the government\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe man has been identified as an experienced surfer and father to a young girl. Photo: NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n

\u201c \u2026 We have been advocating for the removal of shark nets on all beaches and replacement with technology that maintains or improves swimmer safety,\u201d Ms Heins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to see the removal of shark nets on all our beaches; however if a trial on one beach as suggested by the NSW Government gets us a step closer to this outcome, we\u2019d welcome it provided they were replaced with appropriate mitigation technologies for swimmer safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

A NSW government spokesperson said safety is the \u201cnumber one priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThree local councils, Central Coast, Waverley and Northern Beaches, who have indicated they did not want nets on their beaches, have been invited to be part of a trial where one beach in their LGA will not be netted,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Minister for the Illawarra and the South Coast Ryan Park has acknowledged \u201cwidespread\u201d issues with the nets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know the problems with nets are widespread, in particular around getting other species of marine life caught in those areas. I know that\u2019s been a challenge in my own community,\u201d Mr Park said during a press conference in July.<\/p>\n

Beaches between Manly and Narrabeen will remain closed for at least 24 hours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The identity of a surfer who died after being mauled by a shark on Sydney\u2019s Northern Beaches, has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44,2733],"class_list":["post-124625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news","tag-nsw"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}