A great white cruising near Seal Island Mossel Bay, South Africa. Pic: Col B
The Western Australian surfing community is mourning the death of local surfer Nicholas Edwards, 31 after he bled to death following being attacked by a shark on Tuesday 17th August around 8am. Nicolas was from nearby Busselton, was surfing South Point in Gracetown alone when the shark struck. A large groupd of seals had moved through the line ups of both North and South Point moments before and experts suspect it was a case of mistaked identity. Big sharks often hunt the seals in the area. Sergeant Graham Clifford of WA Police media said it’s believed witnesses on the shore saw the man come off his board and helped him to the beach before calling emergency services. “The prognosis wasn’t good on the beach and he was taken to hospital,” Sgt Clifford said.
The six people that helped Nicholas, mostly fellow surfers, dragged him from the swell and administered CPR for 20 minutes until an ambulance arrived. One of his legs had been shredded by what must have been a very large shark. Local surfer Eddie Kilgallon, 42, was surfing another wave at Huzzas, about 200m from South Point, and told Perthnow News he heard shouting from the carpark and local surfboard shaper Matt Manners yelling: “Shark! Shark!”.
“We started paddling for shore and a pod of seals came up in the middle of us. I thought it was a shark at first and thought: `This is it, I’m gone too’.” Mr Kilgallon ran along the shore to where the victim had been dragged out of the water. “We wrapped a jumper around his legs and used a leg rope as a torniquet,” he said. “I was holding what was left of his leg together. The bottom half of his thigh was exposed and ripped open. Half of his calf muscle was also torn to shreds. The boys were giving him CPR just talking to him, doing everything they could. I saw he had a wedding ring and was telling him that his wife wanted to see him again. His face was white but we started to get colour back into him. That’s when I thought he might have a chance.”
Mr Alder broke down when he heard that Nicholas had died.
“It was an honour to try and save a brother. It feels like I’ve lost a brother.
“We treated him real good. We did everything we possibly could. He didn’t die alone. We really pumped his heart. I did mouth-to-mouth and gave him my breath, but it wasn’t enough.
Local rangers retrieved the man’s surfboard, which had snapped cleanly in half.
The top half of Nic’s board.
Nicholas was pronounced dead on arrival at Margaret River Hospital. Local surfer Creed McTaggart told Tracks it was an eerie day to begin with. “It was a cold grey morning, and the waves were around 3m with plenty of action in the water with seals and that,” He said. South Point is a popular break in town with every manner of surfer frequenting the spot due to the clean conditions it offers in the pesky southwest winds that blow most spots onshore and unrideable. “Heaps of grommets have been out there lately, and Northies [North Point] across the bay has been good too.” The loss of life is a scary reminder of the dangers of surfing in such populated marine corridor. Something that the locals are all to aware of as it’s been only 6 years since popular local waterman Brad Smith died after a shark attack at Gracetown’s Lefthanders Beach.
South Point marked above.
Tracks sends the family of Nicolas and the local community our sincere condolences.
