Lance Appleby has been identified as the victim in a shark attack at Granites Beach. Photo: South Australia Police
The name of the surfer who was the victim of a shark attack at Granites Beach on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula on January 2 has been released, and at least one of his friends is calling on authorities to recover his body and kill the shark responsible.
Lance Appleby, a 28-year-old from Port Lincoln, was hit by a shark at around 7 p.m. The South Australia Police immediately sent out rescue crews who searched the water until dark, then resumed their search on Friday morning. The beach is currently closed.
One of Appleby’s friends, a shark fisherman named Jeff Schmucker, did not mince words when talking to reporters.
“[There is] no point looking for anything out there,” he said. “Lance’s body’s inside the shark and the shark’s probably not very far away. If they want to do something about it, they should do it now. Fisheries have the power to give a destruction order, but the government doesn’t have the balls.”
While it is unclear whether it was a great white shark that attacked Appleby, that’s the assumption. Great whites are a protected species, but there are some who disagree with the current laws.
“I’ve already had angry young fellas texting me and calling me today asking me if I’ll do something about it,” Schmucker continued. “His family and community need closure. All his mates are texting and calling me. It’s pretty sad. That’s their emotions coming out, anger and frustration and stuff.”
Appleby was, by all accounts, a great person. Schmucker described him as “a good, sporty kid from a big family, who had a big heart,” and “was a good surfer and footballer, and definitely cherished by all his mates.”
In 2023, a surfer named Tod Gendle was killed by a shark at the same beach. Some of the locals believe the same shark attacked Appleby. According to reports, authorities have Appleby’s surfboard, and they have taken the shark’s DNA off it in an attempt to prove or disprove that theory.
“Well, we’ll find out shortly, because they’ll take a DNA test off this board,” Schmucker said. “And they took a DNA test off of Tod’s board, and they can see if it’s the same shark.”
