Shark attack victim identified as experienced Sydney diving instructor

The swimmer mauled to death by a great white shark in Sydney’s first fatal attack in 60 years has been identified as a 35-year-old British expat.

Simon Nellist, 35, was training for a charity ocean swim this weekend – which has since been cancelled – when he was attacked from below by the four-metre-long predator at Buchan Point, near Little Bay in Sydney’s east, on Wednesday afternoon. 

 His remains were found in the water an hour later. 

The experienced ocean swimmer is understood to have family in the UK and a girlfriend in Sydney.

Witnesses described seeing the great white ‘attack vertically’ and land ‘like a car’ in the water, before dragging the man’s body out into the ocean.

An illustration shows how the shark pounced on the helpless victim less than half its size, before turning the ocean red with blood – sparking panic on the shore.

Authorities are not believed to be planning to kill the shark, and will instead chase the animal away from the mainland if it is picked up by drum lines set up at the scene. 

The frenzied attack took place only 150m away from the main beach, which was packed with dozens of swimmers, paddle boarders and rock fishermen. 

The circumstances of the tragedy emerged as an animal welfare advocate claimed the shark responsible for Wednesday’s attack probably mistook its victim for a helpless seal. 

Lawrence Chlebeck, of Humane Society International, said the ferocious attack was incredibly rare.

He believes the shark probably mistook the swimmer – reportedly wearing a wetsuit – for a seal when it launched the attack. 

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‘It’s very unusual to see a shark attack a human like that,’ said Mr Chlebuck. ‘Normally a bite is not fatal.

‘Normally they bite something to figure out what it is. Once they realise it’s a person and not a normal prey item, they take off.

‘The vast majority of shark bites are a “one and done” occurrence. This is a very unique, and unfortunately tragic, situation.’

It was the first fatal shark attack in Sydney in almost 60 years. Australia has averaged just 1.2 fatal attacks a year since the 70s, despite a spike last year, Mr Chlebuck said.

But he said most great white shark bites were juveniles.

‘They are still trying to figure out their changing diet as they switch from fish, as young sharks, to seals and marine mammals,’ he said. 

It comes as:  

• A shark expert described the attack as ‘particularly nasty’ and of a kind only seen 10 to 12 times in the past 30 years 
• Police announced beaches along Sydney’s eastern and southern coastlines are shut for 24 hours, including: Bronte, Tamarama, Bondi, Coogee, Clovelly, Sth Maroubra, Little Bay, Malabar/Long Bay, La Perouse, Wanda, Elouera, Nth Cronulla and Cronulla 
• A man was escorted from the water at Little Bay by police after he was seen swimming on Thursday morning  
• Surf lifesavers confirmed the shark disappeared despite surf life savers managing to scramble a helicopter within minutes of Wednesday’s brutal attack. ‘They didn’t identify or detect any shark in that area,’ said NSW Surf Life Saving CEO Steven Pearce 
• NSW Surf Life Saving CEO Steven Pierce revealed tagged bull sharks are known to live not far from the scene of the attack  

‘To see this behaviour from something said to be four or five metres long is very unusual.’ 

He fears the nearby fishermen may have been using live bait and burley or throwing discarded fish guts into the sea, inadvertently luring the shark into shore.

‘Anything that puts blood in the water will attract sharks,’ he said. ‘I’m in no way apportioning blame, but it’s something we can look at when we try to make sense of these random rare occurrences.’ 

Angry locals took to social media hours after the mauling, saying fishing off the rocks would have attracted the apex predator.

‘Presumably baiting of this area would have attracted fish, so a shark could well be attracted too. Ghastly situation for the unsuspecting swimmer and rescue teams,’ one person fumed.

‘The fishing will have encouraged the shark closer to shore. The swimmer didn’t stand a chance,’ a third said.

But professional fisherman Joe Smythe told Daily Mail Australia Buchan Point is an ideal spot for sharks already and calls to ban recreational fishing were ‘hysteria’.

‘That location screams shark attacks, there’s a fish holding structure with the rocks and reef dropping off into deep water – and sharks patrol that territory.’

‘I was down there yesterday and there were birds in the area because of a school of bait fish.’

‘I don’t think fishing has anything to do with it, these attacks are usually quite random,’ Mr Smythe said.

‘It used to be overfishing was causing sharks to get more desperate and now it’s turned around the other way and fishing is attracting fish and attracting sharks.’

‘It’s hysteria, this person swam there every day for years. It underlines the randomness of shark attacks and people are just looking for something to blame.’

Local MP Michael Daley told ABC News Breakfast the victim wasn’t believed to be a local, but regularly swam at the bay, which is regarded as one of Sydney’s best kept secrets. 

Drum lines were deployed and an intensive drone and sea search launched for the killer shark, which disappeared into the sea within minutes of the attack.   

Some of the callous online commentary about the witnesses included: ‘Did anyone else notice the guy fishing that didn’t even take his line in or anything? Just kept fishing.’

Another said: ‘The video is disturbing, the fact someone was swimming while someone else is fishing on shore? This whole thing is disturbing.

Another person said they were shocked the witnesses were able to ‘just sit there and describe the attack. 

The footage shows the predator thrashing around in the ocean and dragging its victim underwater as the sea turned red with blood, while stunned fisherman watched on in horror.

In the clip, the man recording the video can be heard yelling: ‘Someone just got eaten by a shark.

‘Big great white. That’s insane.’

The predator’s fin can be seen swerving through the waves as the water turns red and seagulls circle above.  

A stunned fisherman standing on the rocks, just metres from the shark, clasps his head with his hand as he turns towards the man filming. 

In another video posted online, fisherman can be heard screaming as the terrifying incident unfolds in front of them.

‘Someone just got eaten by a shark. Oh man! Oh no! That’s insane. That’s a great white shark,’ one fisherman yells.

‘The person’s still there!

‘I just saw a four to five metre great white explode on the surface just here on a swimmer and it was like a car landing in the water.

‘F*** man, I heard a scream and the shark was just chomping on his body and the body was in half just off the rocks here.

‘It came back and swallowed parts of his body and that was it. It disappeared.’

Other frantic onlookers on the rocks can be heard swearing and screaming in horror.

One of the fisherman at the scene said there was nothing they could do to save the man, as it became immediately apparent his injuries were fatal. 

‘Out of no where, we heard “ahhh”, and then there was a big shark in the air – totally airborne – and it hit the guy very, very quick,’ he told reporters.

‘We couldn’t do anything about it.’ 

The death at Buchan Point, a popular spot for rock fishing and spearfishing between Little Bay and Malabar beaches, is Sydney’s first shark attack fatality since 1963. 

Emergency services workers and lifeguards rushed out to the scene in rescue helicopters, boats, and jet skis, in a frantic search to find the swimmer and the predator.   

‘They’re supposed to be saving people’s lives not pulling body parts from the water but they’re on duty, they’re always there to keep us safe, we are very grateful,’ he said.   

Lifeguards stepped up patrols on Thursday and police were also seen searching the shore near the scene of the attack and will continue doing so throughout the day. 

The tragedy has rocked the local community, with NSW Police at 10am announcing all 14 beaches from Bondi to Cronulla will be closed for 24 hours. 

They include Bronte, Tamarama, Bondi, Coogee, Clovelly, South Maroubra, Little Bay, Malabar/Long Bay, La Perouse, Wanda, Elouera, North Cronulla and Cronulla. 

NSW Surf Life Saving CEO Steven Pierce said the Department of Planning and Environment was setting up drum lines in an effort to keep the killer shark and any others away from the beach.

He said tagged bull sharks were known to the area, but that surf lifesavers have yet to find the predator despite getting a helicopter into the air and jet skis into the water in minutes. 

‘We need to ensure the beaches are cleared of danger to our best ability, so we’ll keep surveilling that area today, leading into the weekend we’ll have a high presence of water assets and will ensure the lifesaver helicopter will fly around the coast to have that extra presence,’ Mr Pierce told the Daily Telegraph.

The rescue chief said even a shark net would not have prevented the swimmer’s death, given the predator was so intent on attacking him.

‘I don’t think any form of shark netting would have prevented this attack, if a large shark is in the vicinity to attack someone,’ he said.

‘Nine out of 10 times when we do patrols we see sharks, and they’re often just swimming by… tragically this shark was intent on causing harm.’

Daily Mail Australia saw curious locals try to walk down to the beach early on Thursday morning but access to the shore was forbidden.

Parents with children and locals walking their dogs stood in shock as they looked out at the rocks where the man’s life was brutally taken.

One brave swimmer entered the water but was quickly approached by police on jet skis and ordered to get out.  

Randwick City Council Mayor Dylan Parker said the news was shocking.

‘I learnt the news after coming out of the ocean myself at a different beach – swimming in the ocean is our pastime out here and to hear somebody die like this is just absolutely horrifying,’ he said.

‘An attack like this in recent memory is unprecedented.’

Mayor Parker added that it was likely some swimmers would be reluctant to get back in the water.

‘As a passionate swimmer myself, it’s definitely given me pause but it’s something we will work through. It’s very rare but there’s always a risk, generally our coastline is safe however unfortunately tragedies do occur,’ he said.

Agriculture Minister Dugald Sanders said while shark management in Australia was a ‘grey area’, drum lines are a proven solution.

‘I should point out this morning the fisheries guys have already been out to the location of the gutwrenching attack to put smart drum lines in,’ he told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.

‘Smart drum lines have proven to be really successful and also tagging sharks to know exactly where they are and using our smart shark app, along with monitoring with drones.’

Mr Daley said he was ‘horrified and shocked’ upon hearing the news.

‘I was deeply concerned for the family and sad for what happened. I’m really disappointed that a fatal attack as rare as it’s been has come to pass, it really spoils the coastline in a way,’ he said.

‘I think a lot of people will think twice before going in the water or won’t at all. For this to happen is shocking, sad and disappointing.

‘There’s a range of attitudes to things like this, there’s some that pass it off and swim fearlessly and there are others that wont go in the water because they’re scared. This will make everyone sit up and think about it, but hopefully it wont scare people away.’

But for Little Bay local Frances Ruisan, a shark attack won’t be stopping his daily swims.

‘I’ve lived here for 40 years, it definitely won’t deter me,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

He explained that the bay where swimmers commonly go is protected by rocks.

‘I would go for a swim this afternoon. I’m not too worried because it’s protected,’ he added.

At the time of the attack, Little Bay beach was packed with dozens of swimmers, paddle boarders and rock fishermen at the time of the attack.

They were alerted of the danger by the swimmer’s ear-piercing screams but could do nothing but watch on in shock as the monster shark ripped him into two and ‘swallow parts of his body’. 

‘Footage clearly shows a body, half a body being taken by a shark,’ a police officer told colleagues over a scanner when human remains were found an hour later.

The swimmer’s injuries were so catastrophic there was nothing paramedics could have done to save him, even if they got to him sooner.

Back on shore, dozens of fishermen and beachgoers were still reeling in shock as the desperate hunt for the predator continued.

‘Some guy was swimming and a shark came and attacked him vertically,’ fisherman Kris Linto told Nine News. 

‘We heard a yell and turned around it looked like a car had landed in the water, a big splash then the shark was chomping at the body and there was blood everywhere.

‘It was really bad.’

Another shaken witness recalled how the attack lasted just seconds.

‘He was yelling at first, and then when he went down there were so many splashes,’ he told the ABC.

‘The shark wouldn’t stop.

‘It’s very, very upsetting. He just went down for a swim, enjoying the day, but that shark took his life.’

Four ambulance road crews and a rescue helicopter with a critical care doctor and a critical care paramedic on board attended the scene in the hope of saving his life. 

‘Unfortunately this person had suffered catastrophic injuries and there wasn’t a lot paramedics could do when we arrived,’ NSW Ambulance Inspector Lucky Phrachanh said.

Police spent several hours at the scene interviewing shocked witnesses and later removed an SUV from the carpark at nearby Malabar Beach. 

Many Sydneysiders had hoped to spend Thursday in the ocean with temperatures to reach a balmy 31C.

Signage and barricades have been installed warning swimmers to stay out of the water.

Little Bay Beach is regarded as one of Sydney’s undiscovered jewels and a ‘secret’ beach popular with locals.

‘The coast is our community’s backyard. Little Bay is normally such a calm, beautiful place enjoyed by families,’ Randwick mayor Dylan Parker said.

‘To lose someone to a shark attack like this is chilling. We are all in shock.

‘Our entire community’s hearts go out to the family of the victim.’

Many locals have vowed to avoid the water for a while in the wake of the tragedy.  

A local woman who regularly goes swimming around the area said the attack ‘made her think twice’.

‘So many locals go out swimming here, every day, and I’ve never seen a shark,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.

‘It’s terrifying’.

The latest tragedy comes after the death of a father and son rock fishing at the same site two weeks ago.

Peter and his son Mahan, 10, were fishing on a rock face at Little Bay on the last day of the school holidays on January 31 when they were dragged into the water by a freak wave.

‘My husband and my son were just a few steps in front of me and now they are gone forever,’ Peter’s heartbroken wife told the Daily Telegraph.

‘I wish it was me instead of my little boy.

‘I don’t have the will to live.’

It’s the first fatal shark attack in Sydney since 1963 when actress Marcia Hathaway, 32, was mauled by while on a boating trip in Sugarloaf Bay in Middle Harbour.

She was attacked by a bull shark in just 30 inches (76cm) of water as her fiancé and friends watched on in horror.

‘I heard Marcia scream ‘oh dear’, and then she was dragged into deep water,’ her fiance Frederick Knight said at the time.

‘I started to run to her and saw the fin of a shark.

‘It seemed to have grabbed her on the calf of her right leg.

‘When I reached Marcia, it struck again and seized her on the thigh.

‘I started to kick the shark and beat it with my fists, most of the struggle is a blank but I remember at one time the shark was between my legs and I seemed to be straddling it.’

The critically injured actress was stretchered in an ambulance, which then broke down while navigating the steep track from the harbour.

She had stopped breathing by the time a second ambulance arrived.

Police will liaise with the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the swimmer.

‘DPI extends sincere condolences to the family and friends and first responders at this tragic time’, a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.

‘DPI will continue to work with NSW Police and SLS NSW to monitor the area and provide any technical advice and resources if required, including deploying SMART drumlines in the area.’

The department has also advised a bull shark was detected 15km further north near Bondi an hour after the attack. It has not been confirmed the shark is linked to the attack.

A SharkSmart app provided by the New South Wales government alerts swimmers and surfers in real time when a shark is detected nearby.