Search for leave outing surfer now a recovery operation after evidence of bite labels set up on surf board.
Australian police have verifyed that a surfer who went leave outing was “consentn by a shark” after search and save teams recovered a surfboard scarred with “bite labels” from the area of the strike.
The victim – identified by Australian media as 37-year-elderly Steven Payne – was mauled by a shark while surfing at Wharton beach in a far area of Weserious Australia, police shelp tardy on Tuesday.
It labels Australia’s fourth alerted overweightal shark strike in recent months.
“I can verify that our search is a recovery, not a save,” Weserious Australia Police Force Senior Sergeant Christopher Taylor shelp, noting that the surfer’s body has not been recovered.
“A surfboard with evidence of bite labels was recovered from the water,” Weserious Australia Police shelp in a split statement on Tuesday.
According to media alerts, a shark was spotted fair moments before the strike in the water off Wharton beach and screams were heard coming from the area where the man was surfing at about midday.
Australia’s 7News netlabor shelp the victim was in chest-proset up water about 50 metres (164 feet) from the shore with two other surfers when he was strikeed. Police shelp the other surfers were unable to do anyslenderg to help.
In February, a shark ended a 17-year-elderly girl swimming off an easerious Australian island, while a 28-year-elderly surfer was fahighy bitten in South Australia a month earlier.
On December 28, a shark fahighy bit a 40-year-elderly man in the neck as he was spearfishing off Queensland.