South Australia police have released more information regarding their progress in the ongoing search for the body of a surfer killed by a shark off the coast of Granites Beach near Streaky Bay. “We have found some small items. They’re items not easily identifiable but we will continue the examination of those,” South Australia Police Superintendent Paul Bahr said. As Australia’s 9 News reports, those items were part of the missing surfer’s board and a piece of his wetsuit.
Though the 55-year-old man’s name has not been reported, the police also provided a few details about him. “He’s not a Streaky Bay local. From what we understand he’s a bit of a traveler,” added Bahr. “He moves around Australia and is a very competent surfer.”
Furthermore, though the search for the man’s remains continue, the police have advised locals against attempting to hunt the shark responsible for the attack. According to them, it would be “pretty much impossible” to identify the specific shark involved in the attack. “Certainly the advice we’ve got is that it would be reasonably futile to try and hunt for the shark,” said Bahr.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas also weighed in, saying his thoughts were with the family of the surfer involved in yesterday’s “awful tragedy,” according to ABC News. He added that the government had limited options in terms of intervening with incidents like this. “We’re not going to ban surfing in and around the EP [Eyre Peninsula], and there’s not much we can do about the sharks,” he said.
The search for the man’s remains has been called off for the day, and a smaller search will continue tomorrow morning.
