A man has died after being attacked by a shark in a “freak incident” that will close beaches for days as authorities investigate.<\/p>\n
The 57-year-old was mauled by a large shark at Long Reef Beach on Sydney’s northern beaches on Saturday morning.<\/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 are liaising with wildlife experts to determine the species involved.<\/p>\n
Superintendent John Duncan told reporters the attack took place about 100m offshore.<\/p>\n
“It’s a terrible, terrible thing,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It’s one of those freak incidents that happens very, very rarely … a great tragedy.”<\/p>\n
The man leaves behind a wife and young daughter, Duncan said.<\/p>\n
“Tomorrow being Father’s Day, it’s particularly tragic,” he said.<\/p>\n
Pieces of a surfboard were recovered and taken for examination.<\/p>\n
Beaches from Manly to Narrabeen were closed pending further advice.<\/p>\n
“We anticipate Dee Why will be closed for 48 to 72 hours,” Surf Life Saving NSW duty officer Rod McGibbon told reporters.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said the victim was brought ashore by two fellow surfers and that distraught loved ones rushed to the scene.<\/p>\n
AAP has been told injuries to the man’s limbs were extensive.<\/p>\n
Local surfer Bill Sakula told reporters at the beach he heard about the attack while preparing to leave for a morning surf.<\/p>\n
“It’s going to send shockwaves through the community,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Everyone is going to be a little bit nervous for a while.”<\/p>\n
A group believed to be friends and family of the victim could be seen gathered on the sand on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Surf Life Saving NSW deployed a drone and jet skis to search for the shark.<\/p>\n
“Our deepest condolences go to the family of the man involved in this terrible tragedy,” chief executive Steve Pearce said in a statement.<\/p>\n
“Please remain clear of the water at beaches in the vicinity and follow the direction of lifeguards and lifesavers,” he said.<\/p>\n
A Department of Primary Industries spokesperson said the department is assisting the response.<\/p>\n
“NSW government shark biologists will assess photographs of the incident to determine the species of shark involved,” they said.<\/p>\n
Northern Beaches Council issued a statement thanking the “many involved … for their swift and professional response including members of the public … first responders, lifeguards, SLS volunteers, police and paramedics”.<\/p>\n
“The beaches from Narrabeen to Manly will remain closed today with lifeguards monitoring on jetskis,” it said.<\/p>\n
“Beach goers are advised to check the website for ongoing closures in the coming days.”<\/p>\n
The fatal attack, to be investigated by the coroner, is thought to be the first in NSW this year.<\/p>\n
The last fatal attack in Sydney occurred in February 2022, when British diving instructor Simon Nellist was taken by a great white off Little Bay in the city’s east.<\/p>\n
On the northern beaches, the last known fatal attack was at North Narrabeen, 90 years ago.<\/p>\n
Shark nets were installed at 51 beaches between Newcastle and Wollongong on Monday as part of a seasonal programme.<\/p>\n
The NSW government has announced a trial to reduce the number of shark nets, asking three councils including Northern Beaches Council to nominate a beach where nets could be removed.<\/p>\n
Long Reef Beach does not have a shark net but nearby Dee Why Beach does.<\/p>\n
Additional shark alert drumlines were deployed in the area on Saturday between Dee Why and Long Reef beaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man has died after being attacked by a shark in a “freak incident” that will close beaches…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[85,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-5375","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}