Shark attack victim Simon Nellist was planning to marry Jessie Ho

Friends of Little Bay shark attack victim Simon Nellist are paying tribute to the soon-to-be-married British expat. Read their touching words here.

Tributes from around the world are flowing for the victim of Sydney’s horror shark attack, with family and friends devastated by his shock death.

The British expat Simon Nellist has been remembered by friends in the UK and across Australia as someone who died doing what he loved.

“The ocean and our world are now one incredible human short,” his friend Ruth Herring said.

“You will forever be our ocean protector, Simon.”

Mr Nellist, was an experienced swimmer and diver who “really knew the water”, one friend said. He was also an avid nature photographer and videographer, who spent most of his time outside.

“I’m absolutely devastated,” another friend wrote. “You were a true legend doing what you loved… you will be missed so much.”

Mr Nellist loved to explore the ocean.

The 35-year-old was due to marry the “girl of his dreams” before he was mauled to death on Wednesday.

“Simon was amazing,” another of his friends told UK newspaper The Sun. “That’s all there is to say really. He was just the best. He was the nicest, kindest human. It is a huge loss. In the last couple of years we haven’t been able to see him because of the Covid situation.”

“Him and Jessie were due to get married last year but that got put off because of Covid. It’s just horrendous. We spent most of yesterday just hoping and praying it wasn’t him. It’s still incredibly raw.

Mr Nellist, pictured with partner Jessie Ho, was described as someone who ‘made this Earth lighter’.

The friend said Mr Nellist “did some pretty big tours” while serving in the military and hasn’t been to the UK in several years.

Mr Nellist’s father Michael, a retired dentist, and mother Rosemary live in Cornwall and he has three siblings living in the UK.

Mr Nellist was just 150m away from the beach at Buchan Point, near Little Bay in Sydney, when the predator struck in the first fatal attack in the area nearly 60 years.

Other friends having been paying tribute to Mr Nellist on social media, describing him as a “big softie” and “such a lovely guy”.

Simon Nellist died after being attacked by a shark at Little Bay on Wednesday.

Alana Richards wrote: “We love you Simon. We are heartbroken. Sleep tight you big softie.”

Janet Ruffell said: “Simon was one of the best. I still can’t believe it.”

Mick Lee said: “He was a great lad and we had some awesome nights.”

His remains were found in the water on Wednesday afternoon following the horror ordeal.

Mr Nellist was a keen swimmer and diver, with his social media profiles littered with images of him out on the water — including at the same location near where he was killed.

He had previously dived at a scuba centre in Kogarah, which was rocked by tragedy when a young freediver drowned at Brighton Le Sands in 2018.

The former owner of that scuba centre Della Ross, whose son Dmitriy died in that tragedy, said much like her boy, Mr Nellist loved the ocean.

“Everything that is connected to Simon is connected to the ocean,” she told Channel 7.

“The news hit us like a truck because he was one of the people who make this Earth lighter.”

Mr Nellist lived in Wolli Creek with his partner and was a fitness lover, regularly visiting the Plus Fitness 24/7 gym nearby.

Simon and Jenny Ho were due to get married in 2021 but postponed their wedding amid the Covid pandemic.

His family, some of who are in England, are understood to be incredibly distraught by his tragic death.

“Simon’s family requested privacy and not to talk for a while,” one friend said.

The “ferocious” attack that left only pieces of Mr Nellist’s ripped wetsuit and a lifebuoy floating in the waters off Little Bay has similarly traumatised rescuers, swimmers and beachgoers.

Eyewitnesses said Mr Nellist stood no chance as the huge great white launched vertically from beneath him.

“It was a ferocious attack, it was unlikely he would have survived, and our thoughts are with his family,” Shane Daw, general manager of Surf Life Saving Australia said.

“The surf life savers ­arrived as quickly as possible, within four minutes, there were pieces of torn wetsuits and a lifebuoy on the water, but it was too late, he was ­already gone when we got there. It was pretty horrific.”

It is the first fatal shark ­attack in Sydney since January 1963.

Mr Nellist’s friend told The Sun the former RAF serviceman was an experienced swimmer, who “really knew the water”.

“He was massively into wildlife and knew exactly what he was doing. He wasn’t daft. It’s just a freak accident.

“Simon was doing his diving and he would send us the most amazing videos of the wildlife out there. He was so respectful of the wildlife.

“He finished in the RAF about six years ago and he went travelling and then just fell in love with it out there. Then he fell in love with Jessie.

The attack was witnessed and in one case filmed by rock fishermen just metres from where the diver was taken.

Angler, Kris Linto, told Nine News the shark att­acked vertically. “We heard a yell and then turned around. (The splash) looked like a car had just landed in the water.”

NSW Fisheries, police along with life savers scour the water on Thursday. Picture: John Grainger

Organisers of Sunday’s Malabar Magic Ocean Swim have cancelled the event, and 13 beaches, from Bondi in the east to Cronulla in the south, were closed for 24 hours as NSW Police, Surf Lifesavers and lifeguards continued to scour the waters in the hunt for the killer.

Drones were deployed to aid the search, after emer­gency approval was granted to bypass a strict no-fly order above Little Bay, which is under the flight path.

Randwick Council Lifeguard Supervisor Paul Moffat said: “Lifeguards have got a number of jet skis in the water, also surf lifesaving have put a jet ski in the water too. We are flying a number of drones in the Randwick area at the moment.

“For tomorrow and for the weekend we will have a number of jet skis patrolling the area and also we’ll have a drone flying at Maroubra. It’s very, very tragic,” he said.

NSW Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders said Department of Primary Industry workers had set up drum lines at the attack site on Thursday morning.

“This morning, the fisheries guys have already been out to the location of yesterday’s really unfortunate and just gut-wrenching attack to put smart drum lines in … they will be monitored throughout the day.”

But that may not be enough to reassure many beachgoers.

Malabar local and celebrity chef Colin Fassnidge said he’ll “leave it for a while” until he jumps back in the water.

“You want your kids growing up being cautious of the water but you don’t want them to have a fear of it, but last night it was really murky and that’s when you know there’s a chance,” he said. “You’re in their domain.”

Little Bay local Jess Dalton, 23, said the news of the attack won’t change her daily swim routine. “I’m not too afraid of swimming in the bay here.”

Originally published as Shark attack victim Simon Nellist was planning to marry Jessie Ho