A shark hunt is underway off the east coast of Australia after his father was killed in a “freak” attack on Sydney Beach.
Mercury Psilakis was attacked on Saturday after police said it was a large shark in Longreef Beach.
The 57-year-old was attacked while surfing about 100 metres offshore in the city’s second fatal shark incident since 1963.
Currently, drone operators are scanning the water for signs of further shark activity on the beach, according to CNN affiliate 9News.
Emergency services followed the report of a man who ran to the beach just after 10am and was seriously injured.
He was taken to the coast and declared dead at the scene, authorities said.
Witnesses described the chaotic scene when the shark fin surfaced.
“There was a man screaming, “I don’t want to be bitten, I don’t want to be bitten, please don’t bite me.” And then I saw the shark dorsal fin appearing and it was huge.”
“Then I saw the tail fins go up and start kicking, and the distance between the dorsal fin and the tail fin looked about four metres, so it actually looked like a six metre shark.”
Psilakis disappeared under the water on a surfboard and lost several limbs in the attack, New South Wales (NSW) police inspector Stuart Thomson told reporters at a press conference on Saturday.
“He (the friend) managed to safely return to the beach, and after a while he was found floating on the surf, and a few others left to recover,” Thomson said. “An attempt to save his life has failed.”
A experienced surfer who left behind his wife and young daughter, Psillakis is well known in the Northern Beach community for selling rare exotic plants, and frequently featured his discoveries on local Facebook groups.
Police and shark biologists are not only talking to witnesses to determine the species of sharks, but also analyzing fragments and fragments of his surfboard, 9News added.
Drone operators are scanning water for potential shark activity.
Locals are being urged to avoid local beaches to ensure that lifeguards keep people out of the water.
Northern Beaches Police Area Commander John Duncan told local media that the attacks “doesn’t happen very rarely.”
Shark attacks in Sydney are extremely rare, with only one other deadly in the last 60 years.
The diving instructor Simon Nerist was killed by Great White in 2022 while swimming from Little Bay Beach.
Before that, the last fatal incident occurred in 1963 when actress Marcia Hathaway was fatally wounded by a shallow sea bull shark in Middle Harbor.
Shark Nets has been installed on 51 beaches in NSW and has been installed for the season from September 1st across 51 beaches, spanning approximately 140 miles from Newcastle to Wollongong.
This routine scale is implemented annually throughout the state’s spring and summer period, with sharks becoming more common in warmer months.
According to the Ministry of Primary Industry, sharks are present all year round, but may be more common depending on weather, sea conditions and food sources.
