Two great white sharks kill Australian teen

[alicia-w]

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1106&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20041216%2F0804760926.htm&sc=1106&photoid=20041216SYD05D

Australian Teen Surfer Killed by 2 Sharks



ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) - Two great white sharks attacked and killed a surfer while his friends watched in horror Thursday off a popular beach in the southern Australian city of Adelaide, authorities said.

The 18-year-old man had fallen from a surfboard being towed by a power boat when the sharks attacked off West Beach mid afternoon, South Australia state Sea Rescue Squadron spokesman Fraser Bell said.

One shark tore the victim in half and the second shark took the remains, witnesses said.

Two of the three 16-year-old boys who were in the tow boat witnessed the attack and received medical treatment for shock.


Police and state emergency services said there had been no sign of the victim or the sharks since the mid afternoon attack despite extensive searches of the coast.


Bell said the sharks, also known as white pointers, were between 15 and 17 feet long. They attacked about 250 yards from a crowded beach.


``He fell off the surfboard and the shark appeared and took him,'' Bell told reporters.


``It tore him apart ... apparently it tore him in half and the other shark came in and took the rest.''


A woman on the beach who was not named told Seven Network television the shark that led the attack ``caught his left arm and took him around the boat and then another shark has come in and they just took him to pieces.''


The group of four friends, all from Adelaide, had been on the water for just 30 minutes before the attack.


Asked if there were any chance the victim had survived, Bell replied, ``None whatsoever''.


State police chief inspector David Lufty said beaches in the area would remain closed as the search continued for the killer sharks.


The tragedy is the second shark fatality in Australian waters within a week.


A 38-year-old man was killed by a shark while spearing fish on the Great Barrier Reef off northeast Australia on Saturday.

[sunny]

So sad.

[TexasStooge]

[chadtm80]

Very sad.. No way I would get in the water over there.. We have shark "Attacks" here.. But 99% of the time they bite and thats the end of it.. They dont keep attacking and or eat you.

[alicia-w]

and they're not great whites. i am NOT getting in the water where those babies are. uh uh, no way....

[Stephanie]

I'm having flashbacks of "Jaws". That's awful!

[cswitwer]

Sounds like the sharks used a little team work. Scary.

Very sad.

[Lindaloo]

I would never surf nor swim in those waters either. So sad about the teen and a horrific way to die.

Another thing that bothers me is the fact this is the second time I have read where two great whites have attacked someone like this.

[chadtm80]

A friend of mine was over there not to long ago and he said some of the beaches had Fenced off areas for beach goes to swim in and it was suppose to keep the sharks out.. But while he was there there was a shark attack with in the fenced off area... Sharks are a different breed over there.. No Thank you

FYI that same friend Will NEVER NEVER NEVER go back into the ocean no matter where it is.. He was bitten by a shark while surfing with my brother at Daytona Beach..

[Skywatch_NC]

The tragedy is the second shark fatality in Australian waters within a week.

A 38-year-old man was killed by a shark while spearing fish on the Great Barrier Reef off northeast Australia on Saturday.

Eric

[Lindaloo]

A friend of mine was over there not to long ago and he said some of the beaches had Fenced off areas for beach goes to swim in and it was suppose to keep the sharks out.. But while he was there there was a shark attack with in the fenced off area... Sharks are a different breed over there.. No Thank you

FYI that same friend Will NEVER NEVER NEVER go back into the ocean no matter where it is.. He was bitten by a shark while surfing with my brother at Daytona Beach..

I agree 100%!! I do not go in to the ocean for that very reason. A Coast Guard pilot told me that if I had seen what he sees while flying the shoreline of Pensacola Beach I would never go in to the water again. And I haven't. NO THANKS for me either!!

[alicia-w]

i was going to mention the same thing.