A teenage boy killed in a shark attack off the coast of South Australia has been remembered as a talented and dearly loved member of the surfing community.
The 15-year-old, identified by friends and a family member as Khai Cowley, was mauled by a suspected great white while surfing off the remote Ethel beach on the Yorke Peninsula west of Adelaide about 1.30pm on Thursday.
Emergency services rushed to the popular surfing spot in Innes national park but were unable to save the boy, who was from Maslin Beach in Adelaide’s south, police said.
Surfing SA paid tribute to the talented surfer on Thursday night. “We are devastated to learn that a young, talented and dearly loved member of our surfing community was the surfer involved in the attack at Ethel Beach, and are absolutely shattered to hear that the incident was fatal,” it said. “Our utmost deepest sympathies are with his family.”
The surf club MicroGroms Junior Boardriders said the teenager would be missed and sent “love and support to his family”. “It is with immense sadness that Microgroms Junior Surf Club remember Khai after his devastating passing,” it said on social media.
“Khai was a member since 2016 and will be remembered as a good friend and talented surfer who was well respected and admired by all that knew him.”
Ryan Valente, a local skipper with Reef Encounters who knows the Marion Bay region well, said it was unusual to see great whites in the area and he could not recall any similar encounters.
“It’s stuff nightmares are made of,” he told ABC Radio on Friday. “Yesterday itself, conditions-wise, was a very grim day: lightning, strong winds and it was quite a dark day. The town’s in a bit of shock, I guess. Our hearts go out to the family.”
Andrew Fox, a researcher at the Rodney Fox Shark Museum, said great whites were ambush predators and murky conditions on Thursday may have increased their activity.
“They’re more motivated – bigger swell, dirty water,” he told ABC Radio. “Anything that increases the chances of an ambush predator.”
The death rounds out a horror year for beachgoers in the state, with three people killed by sharks and two othes injured.
In May a teacher, Simon Baccanello, 46, died in a suspected shark attack while surfing at Walkers Rock beach, about 365km west of Adelaide, before 55-year-old Tod Gendle was killed while surfing at Granites beach on the state’s west coast in October. Neither of their bodies were recovered.
Fox said the spate of shark attacks came in stark contrast to the relatively low number of encounters during the previous eight years.
“These little clusters are more commonly seen in Western Australia and the eastern states,” he said. “We’re known as a bit of a home to the great white shark. We know so much more about great white sharks but they’re so mysterious still.
“A lot of surf places are also natural feeding grounds of sharks and there’s been a lot of salmon seen swimming through that area.”
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