I Think They re Rattled. That s The Easy Way To Say It.
Local surfers come to terms with Tuncurry’s fatal white shark attack.
Scene of the tragedy on a happier day.
Sean Doherty
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Josh Kirkman has lived and surfed in Tuncurry most of his life, but he’s never experienced the town the way it’s been this week.
On Tuesday morning, May 18, a surfer was attacked and killed by what’s estimated to be a four and a half metre white shark, close to shore on Tuncurry Beach, just down from the break-wall.
Having grown up in neighbouring Forster, my phone lit up soon after. So did Josh’s. “That’s the thing that goes through your mind when you hear about a shark attack at 11am. on a Tuesday,” he says. “That it’s one of your mates. It has to be.”
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| UPDATED: 07:06, Thu, Dec 24, 2020
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In total eight people were killed by sharks off Australia this year, compared to none in 2019. Leonard Guida, a shark ecologist at the Australian Marine Conservative Society, suggested this could be down to changes in water temperatures.
Australia has suffered through its deadliest year for shark attacks in more than nine decades, even though more victims are being saved than ever.
Eight Australians were killed by sharks this year - the most since 1929 - in stark contrast to last year when no deaths were recorded.
Experts said though the 2020 fatality numbers could be put down to bad luck, changes to the ocean temperature caused by climate change is having an impact.
Whales and fish have been encroaching on the coastline as their migration patterns change because waters are becoming warmer.
This year has been the deadliest year for shark attacks in Australia in nine decades, with eight fatalities recorded across the nation