Ethel Beach shark attack: Hero surfer tells how he grabbed a stranger’s board and desperately tried to rescue talented surfer Khai Cowley, 15, from a ‘four metre’ great white

A hero surfer has told how he grabbed a stranger's board and desperately tried to save a 15-year-old boy who was mauled by a great white shark.

Khai Cowley, 15, was fatally attacked by a white pointer while surfing at remote Ethel Beach on the Yorke Peninsula, west of Adelaide, about 1.30pm on Thursday.

The young surfing champion was visiting the surf spot with his father when he was bitten on the leg, prompting witness Tim Philip to rush into the surf to try to save him.

Mr Philip told Seven News he started walking towards the beach when he saw Khai's father shouting at him from the rocks.

Khai swam towards his father. Mr. Philip grabbed a board and paddled over.

But by the time he reached the boy, Khai was unconscious.

“I'd say (the shark was) four metres,” Mr Philip said – circling him.

“I was in waist deep water and I just decided to run back… grab him and I managed to drag him back to shore, back to the people on the beach.

“I didn't want to see his body go into the sea, so I did what I could.”

Devastated residents living nearby are struggling to come to terms with the shocking incident – the first in the area in known history.

Ryan Valente, a local skipper with Reef Encounters who knows the Marion Bay region well, said it was unusual to see great whites in the area and could not recall any similar incidents.

“It's the stuff nightmares are made of,” Valente told ABC Radio on Friday.

'Yesterday itself was a very grim day in terms of conditions: lightning, strong winds and it was quite a dark day.

'The city is a bit in shock, I think. Our thoughts go out to the family involved in the tragic incident.”

Sean Hanna, who has been coming to the beach for 40 years, visited the beach Friday morning after hearing about the boy's death.

“I came here to pay my respects to a young surfer,” he told the station The advertiser.

Mr Hanna praised Khai for doing what he loved, even though he said conditions in the water were not ideal at the time the teenager was killed.

“It wasn't the best, there was a lot of whitewater, but he wanted to be part of it and any surfer can understand that.”

Luke Winter, who lives in Port Noarlunga, about a four-hour drive north of Ethel Beach, said he had known Khai most of his life.

“They are very well known in the surfing community, which only makes this news even more tragic,” he told the newspaper.

The 38-year-old man, who has two boys of his own, said there were other children on the beach on Thursday afternoon who saw the terrifying incident.

Earlier, another local resident told the newspaper that the shark had grabbed the boy's leg before another man paddled into the water to save him, but that he could not be saved by the time he was returned to shore brought.

They said the shark was circling the couple and there was a lot of blood in the water.

Surfing SA paid tribute to talented surfer 'grom' from Maslin Beach in Adelaide's south.

“Khai was deeply involved in our surfing community as his passion for surfing came from a family with deep surfing roots in South Africa,” the group said.

'He was a cheerful, friendly and respectful boy, much loved by his surfing mates and he will be greatly missed in our community and on the water.'

Andrew Fox, a researcher at the Rodney Fox Shark Museum, said Thursday that great white sharks are ambush predators and the dark conditions may have increased their activity.

“They're more motivated: bigger swell, dirty water,” he told ABC Radio.

“Anything that increases the likelihood of an ambush predator.”

Khai's death caps a horror year for beachgoers in South Africa, with three people killed by sharks and another two injured in the state's waters in 2023.

Teacher Simon Baccanello, 46, died in a suspected shark attack in May while surfing at Walkers Rock Beach, about 365 kilometers west of Adelaide, before 55-year-old Tod Gendle was killed in October while surfing at Granites Beach on the west coast of the stands.

Their bodies have not been recovered.

Professor Charlie Huveneers, a shark expert at Flinders University, said the number of bites had increased globally over the past four decades but they were still uncommon.

Human population growth, habitat destruction, declining water quality, climate change and the changing distribution of sharks and their prey have all likely contributed.

Dr. Huveneers said there are three main ways to reduce shark attacks and serious injuries, including reducing the overlap between sharks and humans by setting up swimming enclosures or aerial surveillance, using personal electrical deterrents and using bite-resistant wetsuits.

Prime Minister Peter Malinauskas said his thoughts were with Khai's family.

“I can't think of anything more horrific, especially at this time of year,” he told Channel Nine.

Mr Malinauskas said the government was looking at a range of deterrents, but the remoteness of South Australian beaches made it a difficult task.

“We have a coastline in South Australia that is effectively the equivalent of NSW and Victoria combined,” he said.

'It is impossible to network the entire area.

“But we have seen 11 fatal shark attacks in South Australia since the year 2000, so the fact that we have seen three this summer is startling and concerning.”

a GoFundMe The organization, set up by Khai's family to help pay for his funeral costs, had raised more than $40,000 as of Friday afternoon — more than five times its goal.