A surfer was killed by a large shark in Wylie Bay off Esperance, and days earlier, on the opposite side of the Western Australia coast near Perth, a shark pulled a teen from his board.
On Oct. 9, off the Wylie Bay Kelp Beds, Andrew Sharpe, 52, was surfing when he was killed by a shark. At the time he was thrown into the air around 10:45 a.m., approximately eight other surfers were in the water nearby.
As a friend swam to assist Sharpe, who was injured, the shark returned and pulled Sharpe under the water.
“I spotted a shark, 2.5 to 3 meters [8 to 11 feet] big, about 50 to 100 meters [54 to 109 yards] away. I called out to [his partner] to get out, and next minute we had [ambulances] fly past us,” swimmer Sammy Bamford told WA Today.
Sharpe’s damaged board washed ashore and showed obvious signs of a shark attack. Based on the marks, authorities believe the shark involved was up to 13-feet-long.
A search was initiated using jet skis and boats and a dive time called. After searching for several hours, the search was delayed as daylight faded.
The following day, divers and a submersible were dispatched and several locals used their own watercraft to search for Sharpe, the father of two. After finding several pieces of torn wetsuit pieces near the sight of the attack, the search was eventually called off Sunday.
Another fatal shark attack occurred at the beach in 2017.
Laeticia Brouwer, 17, was surfing with her father at Kelp Beds April 17. Just before 1 p.m. a shark severed her left leg at the hip. Brouwer’s father and another teen pulled her to the beach where first aid was given, but Brouwer died.
On the opposite coast side of the Western Australia coast in Perth, a shark pulled a teen off his surfboard Oct. 4.
A second fatal shark attack occurred near the same location this year around 10 miles (16 km) away.
Gary Johnson, 57, was diving with his wife Jan. 5 off Cull Island near Esperance. Shortly after entering the water, a white shark attacked and bit the diver. His wife called for help, but Johnson was gone.
Around 10:45 a.m. Sav Marafioti, 17, was offshore on Toms Surf Break at Perth’s North Beach when he felt something pull his leg rope. Initially, the teen thought he was caught in seaweed but when he realized he was being pulled in the water; he knew it was a shark.
“It grabbed my leg rope and started pulling down and my leg rope just started to stretch. I thought I was just going to die,” he told Nine News.
“I didn’t know what to do, I was stressing and screaming at everyone, and everyone was paddling away from me. In the moment, you just think – I’m not going to come out of it alive unless I do something.”
He was about 27 yards offshore when he quickly unstrapped the leg rope, abandoned his surfboard and swam toward a friend who paddled him into shore.
Marafioti was not physically injured by the nearly 5-foot-long bronze whaler, but following the frightening event, he is urging people to make sure they tell their friends and family members how much they care for them.
This year’s shark attacks have been marked on the 2020 Shark Attack Map.
