Officials in Australia search for missing man, suspected victim of fatal great white shark attack

Officials in South Australia are searching for the remains of a 55-year-old man who’s believed to have been killed by a great white shark Tuesday morning.

The 55-year-old man was surfing near Granites Beach, south of Streaky Bay on the Eyre Peninsula around 10:20 a.m. when witnesses reported seeing a shark attack the man, South Australia Police said in a statement.

“(The shark) grabbed him, pulled him back down, brought him back up, pulled him back down again,” one witness told 7 News Australia.

Witnesses state that the victim was one of about a dozen surfers in the water at the time of the attack.

A local surfer named Jeff Schmucker told 7 News Australia that he jumped on a Jet Ski to try to find the victim. While searching for the man, Schmucker said he saw a great white shark and circled back to safety.

“I knew the shark would come to me if I just turned the ski off, and within a minute, it was a big female, turned up at the side of the ski, and I just circled with it for about a half of dozen circles, figuring that there might be some evidence of a body close to the shark,” Schmucker told 7 News Australia.

Schmucker described the shark as around 4 meters in length or 13 feet. He also recovered the 55-year-man surfer’s board, which he said had a large bite taken out of it.

South Australia Police confirmed searches would continue over the next few days and into the weekend.

According to ABC News Australia, Police Superintendent Paul Bahr said anyone entering the water needs to accept the risks.

Clinging to life: Surfer attacked in Australia by suspected great white shark

“It is generally well known that this is an area frequented by sharks and big sharks,” Bahr said. “Anyone who is going to be surfing or taking to the water in this area really does need to be aware of the risks and I think, in the main, most people are.”