The victim of a deadly shark attack off South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula has been identified as Lance Appleby, 28, as revealed in a fisherman’s grim warning just hours before the surfer was mauled .
The experienced surfer was attacked on Granites Beach shortly after 7pm on Thursday.
Emergency services rushed to the beach, about 700 kilometers from Adelaide, after receiving reports of a shark attack.
An air, land and sea search for Mr Appleby, who was home visiting family over Christmas, has yet to locate his body.
The beach has been closed to the public and people 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.
“A great white shark has been seen acting aggressively near the Granites, Streaky Bay,” he wrote on a shark alert Facebook page off the west coast of South Australia.
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 off Eyre Peninsula in South Australia has been identified as 28-year-old Lance Appleby (pictured).
The experienced surfer, aged in his 20s, was attacked by a shark at Granites Beach on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula (pictured) shortly after 7pm on Thursday.
Fellow surfer Jeff Schmucker, who raced on a jet ski to try to save him, said he saw Tod being dragged underwater by the huge shark.
Schmucker said he was attacked and surrounded several times by a “large female” shark.
He did not see any remains of the 55-year-old’s body, but told 7News he was able to recover part of his surfboard from which a large bite mark had been removed.
Locals said Tod had recently moved to the area and was unfamiliar with the surf spot, known as a breeding ground for great white sharks.