A woman in her 60s has died after a shark attack on the NSW south coast.
Authorities were searching the ocean off Tathra for the woman’s body and the shark, police said.
The woman was swimming with a group of people between Tathra Wharf and Tathra Beach about 8.20am.
Police said the woman – who is believed to be a regular early morning swimmer – had turned back from the group and was swimming on her own when she was attacked.
A police spokesman said the group of swimmers was being treated for shock and was under general observation.
“Emergency services are doing what they can for them but naturally they’re shocked and horrified by what’s occurred,” he said.
Westpac Lifesaving operation manager Craig Roberts said police had given the Lifesaver 3 helicopter a search area to scan north and south of the Tathra headland.
He said the helicopter would be dropping dye into the water to determine the flow of the tide.
Two surf-lifesaving vessels, along with local fishing vessels under the coordination of NSW Water Police, were also looking for the shark.
Tathra residents have spoken of the loss of one of their own.
Bega District News editor Ben Smyth is on the scene, and said it came as a shock to locals.
“One woman, who has lived there all her life, said she’s never seen sharks in the area,” he said.
Bob Armstrong has spent 60 years in Tathra and has had a long association with the local surf life saving club.
He said that in the 1950s, the club patrolled around the cliffs and had seen sharks in the area but this is the first attack in the area he has ever known.
The alert went out shortly after 8.40am on Thursday, with police, surf-lifesavers, the ambulance service and the Lifesaver 3 helicopter called to the scene.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/
It’s getting worse sharks are becoming a pest. Just like fixes and pigeons getting increasingly close to humans.
No. Shark attacks are not becoming more common, and they are not pests. Everytime you are in the ocean you are within 40 feet of some type of shark and most of us go a lifetime without ever having been attacked. The media does a great job of covering attacks, and more and more people report them now than they used to.
The biggest “PEST” on this planet is the overpopulating human. Humans have killed more humans, spread more disease, and harmed more people and other creatures than all of the sharks that have ever existed. Swimming at 8:30 am is stupid, like rubbing dogfood on yourself and then hiking through Alaska. Place your anger where it belongs.
Eve,
Here in S. Florida shark are referred to as sea pests. Fort Lauderdale announces on their tourist channel when there are SEA PESTS in the area. Here a shark is the same as sea lice and jelly fish. One time I seen a lifeguard running down the beach yelling get out of the water there were sea pests in the area., No one did. A shark is a shark not a sea pest.
The persons covering up attacks are the commercially minded shark researchers. Did you know Rodney Fox is not counted as being attacked by a shark? He was attacked, but commercial monies from the dive industry had his incident removed. Ever person in the world knows Rodney was attacked except for the commercially minded shark community.
We need to fix these types errors. Every expert, using ISAF stats has no idea Rodney was kicked out of being a shark attack victim.
Al Brenneka
One more thing anger is when every so called expert says Rodney wasn’t attacked by a shark. These stupid statements deserve anger.
Are you one that says says Rodney Fox wasn’t attacked by a shark?
Al
The shark was a Bronze Whaler, which has commited very few attacks, the concept of swimming in the ocean early in the morning or at twilight has the same logic as going for a jog across the serengeti and then complaining that there are Lions there. Sharks highest level of activity is at night but also in the early hours of the day. I feel sympathy for the woman’s husband and family but the fact that she broke off from the group to swim by herself to shore is a comment of a lack of respect for or ignorance of the environment in which she was in. Until a shark attacks a person on land they cannot be considered a pest.
So many reasons there are more shark attacks lately, and it is all tied back to our actions. Over fishing tuna and other game fish for our sushi plates, more people in the water than ever before and our complete lack of respect for their turf. I mean, you want to swim 600 meters in the ocean in South Australia where people have seen sharks, go ahead, But this is going to happen. It’s not our home, it’s theirs and you take your life in your hands every time you go in the water. Just like the post before me, it’s like going into the jungle.