Pictured: Young surfer feared mauled to death by a shark just hours after local fisherman’s chilling warning – as the frantic search for his body continues
The victim of a fatal shark attack on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula has been identified as 28-year-old Lance Appleby – as evidenced by a fisherman’s grim warning just hours before the surfer was mauled.
The experienced surfer was attacked at Granites Beach just after 7pm on Thursday.
Emergency services rushed to the beach, about 700 kilometers from Adelaide, after receiving reports of a shark attack.
A search by air, land and sea for Mr Appleby, who was home to visit his family at Christmas, has not yet found his body.
The beach is closed to the public who have been urged to stay away.
Appleby’s disappearance comes after a local fisherman said he saw an “aggressive” great white shark in the area.
“Large white-sighted behaving aggressively near granite, Streaky Bay,” he wrote on a Facebook page for sharks on the South Australian west coast.
The attack comes after Tod Gendle, 55, was killed by a four-metre great white shark while surfing at the same beach in October 2023.
The victim of a fatal shark attack on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula has been identified as 28-year-old Lance Appleby (pictured)
The experienced surfer, in his late 20s, was attacked by a shark at Granites Beach on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula just after 7pm on Thursday (pictured).
Fellow surfer Jeff Schmucker, who raced on a jet ski to rescue him, said he saw Tod being pulled underwater by the huge shark.
Mr Schmucker said he was attacked and surrounded several times by a ‘large female’ shark.
He saw no remains of the 55-year-old’s body, but told 7News he was able to retrieve part of his surfboard, from which a large bite mark had been removed.
Locals said Tod had only recently moved to the area and was unfamiliar with the surf spot, which is known as a breeding ground for great white sharks.
South Australia Police Assistant Commissioner John De Candia said a report was being prepared for the coroner.
“It’s a very sad, tragic circumstance for the family,” Commissioner De Candia said.
“Any death under these circumstances is absolutely tragic.”
Mr Appleby was a keen surfer and also played football for the Marble Range Football Club.