Shark attack Greenmount: Man dead after horror shark attack off Gold Coast beach

Beaches have reopened on the Gold Coast this morning having being closed for a day following the horror shark attack which claimed the life of real estate agent Nick Slater.

BEACHES reopened on the southern Gold Coast on Thursday morning, just two days after a shark attack killed real estate agent Nick Slater at Greenmount.

Beaches from Burleigh to the border had been closed yesterday in the wake of the horror incident, which was the first fatality from a shark attack on the Gold Coast in more than 60 years.

However in a statement council said the beaches would reopen on Thursday morning.

“City of Gold Coast lifeguards advise that Gold Coast beaches will reopen this morning but surveillance by chopper, drone and lifeguards will continue until the weekend,” the statement said.

“We advise all beachgoers to exercise extreme caution as there are large amounts of baitfish in the water.”

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Mr Slater, 46, who lived in Miami, was attacked by a huge shark at Greenmount Beach just after 5pm on Tuesday and died within minutes, despite the frantic efforts of surfers, lifesavers and paramedics.

The moment of the terrifying attack – during a decent swell and a busy line-up – was witnessed by at least one other rider and captured on Coastalwatch surf cameras.

Life guards, with the assistance of other surfers, brought Mr Slater to shore but he could not be saved by paramedics. He had suffered a bite stretching from his hip to his knee.

Greenmount Beach shack attack victim Nick Slater

Greenmount Beach shack attack victim Nick Slater

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Brisbane’s Tim Follett was walking around the idyllic Greenmount headland to grab dinner at nearby Rainbow Bay when he saw the chaos unfold.

“It was like the whole beach just froze. There was a lady screaming, it was horrible.”

Another witness said he had been walking along the Greenmount footpath near one of the lookouts and spotted a board floating and a body next to it.

A beach closed sign at Snapper Rocks on Wednesday. Photo: Scott Powick.

Lifeguard vehicles patrolling beaches on the Gold Coast. Photo: Scott Powick.

The man said he helped three others drag Mr Slater to the beach with the board.

“We got him on to the sand and there was a lifeguard 4WD there already with a stretcher so we put him on the stretcher but he was pretty much already gone by then,” he said.

Beachgoers and lifeguards at Greenmount Beach, Coolangatta, after the fatal shark attack.

Former pro surfer Brenden ‘Margo’ Margieson was at Greenmount Beach with his partner minutes after it occurred.

“We just saw the blood in the water and we saw someone getting taken in,” he said.

“I’d never thought in a million years there’d be one (attack) at Greenmount, or Snapper (Rocks). You think you’re safe. You don’t think it’s going to happen. “I just feel for the family of the person that passed away,” he said.

The Gold Coast’s chief lifeguard and surf veteran Warren Young, said: “It was a beautiful afternoon. There was really good visibility.

“You just never know do you? It’s a terrible thing that’s happened.”

The scene of the attack at Greenmount beach. Photo: Scott Powick.

Queensland Ambulance Service acting senior operations supervisor William Houghton praised the board riders, lifeguards, surf lifesavers and paramedics who tried in vain to save Mr Slater and said they were distraught. He said QAS received the call about the attack at 5.08pm.

“It’s been pretty traumatic for them,” he said.

He described the scene as “chaotic” and the injuries as “traumatic”.

Emergency services at the scene shortly after the attack.