South Australian shark attack: tributes flow for ‘talented and dearly loved’ teenage surfer

Khai Cowley, 15, was killed by a suspected great white shark off Ethel beach on the Yorke Peninsula

A teenage boy killed in a shark attack off the coast of South Australia has been remembered as a talented and dearly loved member of the surfing community.

The 15-year-old, identified by friends and a family member as Khai Cowley, was mauled by a suspected great white while surfing off the remote Ethel beach on the Yorke Peninsula west of Adelaide about 1.30pm on Thursday.

Emergency services rushed to the popular surfing spot in Innes national park but were unable to save the boy, who was from Maslin Beach in Adelaide’s south, police said.

Surfing SA paid tribute to the talented surfer on Thursday night. “We are devastated to learn that a young, talented and dearly loved member of our surfing community was the surfer involved in the attack at Ethel Beach, and are absolutely shattered to hear that the incident was fatal,” it said. “Our utmost deepest sympathies are with his family.”

The surf club MicroGroms Junior Boardriders said the teenager would be missed and sent “love and support to his family”. “It is with immense sadness that Microgroms Junior Surf Club remember Khai after his devastating passing,” it said on social media.

“Khai was a member since 2016 and will be remembered as a good friend and talented surfer who was well respected and admired by all that knew him.”

Ryan Valente, a local skipper with Reef Encounters who knows the Marion Bay region well, said it was unusual to see great whites in the area and he could not recall any similar encounters.

“It’s stuff nightmares are made of,” he told ABC Radio on Friday. “Yesterday itself, conditions-wise, was a very grim day: lightning, strong winds and it was quite a dark day. The town’s in a bit of shock, I guess. Our hearts go out to the family.”

Andrew Fox, a researcher at the Rodney Fox Shark Museum, said great whites were ambush predators and murky conditions on Thursday may have increased their activity.

“They’re more motivated – bigger swell, dirty water,” he told ABC Radio. “Anything that increases the chances of an ambush predator.”

The death rounds out a horror year for beachgoers in the state, with three people killed by sharks and two othes injured.

In May a teacher, Simon Baccanello, 46, died in a suspected shark attack while surfing at Walkers Rock beach, about 365km west of Adelaide, before 55-year-old Tod Gendle was killed while surfing at Granites beach on the state’s west coast in October. Neither of their bodies were recovered.

Prof Charlie Huveneers, a shark expert at Flinders University, said the number of bites had risen globally over the past four decades, but they still occurred infrequently.

Human population growth, habitat destruction, declining water quality, climate change and the changing distribution of sharks and their prey were all likely contributors.

Huveneers said there were three main ways to mitigate shark attacks and serious injuries, including reducing the overlap of sharks and humans by establishing swimming enclosures or aerial surveillance, the use of personal electrical deterrents, and the use of bite-resistant wetsuits.

The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, said his thoughts were with Khai’s family.

“I can’t think of anything more horrific, particularly at this time of year,” he told Channel 9.

Malinauskas said the government was looking at a range of deterrents but the remoteness of South Australian beaches made it a difficult task.

“We’ve got a coastline in South Australia that’s basically the equivalent of NSW and Victoria combined,” he said.

“It’s impossible to net the entire area.

“But we’ve seen 11 fatal shark attacks in South Australia since the year 2000, so the fact we’ve seen three across this summer is startling and it is of concern.”

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