Little Bay shark attack victim swam there ‘nearly every day’

The victim of Wednesday’s horrific shark attack in Sydney’s Little Bay swam there “nearly every day”, it has been revealed.

The victim of Wednesday’s horrific shark attack in Sydney’s Little Bay swam there “nearly every day”, it has been revealed.

Police have not formally identified the deceased man but believe they know who he is and have notified the family.

Maroubra MP Michael Daley told ABC News Breakfast on Thursday morning he had been briefed by police.

“I understand that the person was not local to the area but came here and swam here nearly every day,” he said.

Mr Daley said it was one of Sydney’s most beautiful beaches but there was “a real dark pall” hanging over the community today.

“Because this is where we bring our children down, if you live in Randwick, we come here every day in summer,” he said.

“Nippers on the weekends with thousands and thousands of children swimming at the beaches. We understand that this is very, very rare, but that doesn’t in any way diminish how horrific and shocking it is. It is heartbreaking. We are thinking about the family. I can’t imagine what they are going through now.”

The victim was mauled to death in front of horrified fishers at the popular Sydney spot, about 20km south of the CBD, on Wednesday afternoon.

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Maroubra MP Michael Daley speaks to emergency personnel. Picture: John Grainger

Emergency services were called to the area near Buchan Point, Malabar, after receiving a report that a shark attacked a swimmer in the water just after 4.30pm.

Authorities then located human remains in the water at about 6pm and closed off Little Bay Beach, according to NSW Police.

“Unfortunately this person had suffered catastrophic injuries and there wasn’t a lot paramedics could do when we arrived,” a NSW Ambulance spokeswoman said.

Graphic video footage showed the moment the shark struck. “Someone just got eaten by a shark,” the man recording the video can be heard yelling, adding it was a “big great white”.

The shark is estimated at between four and five metres.

Mr Daley said while it wasn’t officially confirmed it was a great white, “we do have some pretty good video footage of what happened which underpins how horrific it was”.

“Let’s bear a thought for the poor old fishermen who were standing on the rock who witnessed all of this,” he said. “That will be indelibly printed on their minds forever, I’m sure.”

He also thanked the “incredibly brave” Randwick City Council lifeguards and surf lifesavers who were in the water “within seconds” and were on the scene quickly with jet skis.

Beaches across Sydney’s south and east are now closed. Picture: Christian Gilles/NCA NewsWire

“I understand that those fellows on the jet skis pulled some human remains from the water,” he said.

“Thank you for the service they’ve done. It is not a nice job. They are supposed to be saving people’s lives, not pulling body parts from the water. But they are on duty and we are very grateful for that. This is just a stark reminder of what they’re called to do sometimes because of the dangers that we can sometimes unfortunately face when we don’t even realise it.”

It is the first fatality from a shark attack in Sydney since 1963.

All beaches in Sydney’s east and south including Bondi and Cronulla are now closed.

Surf lifesavers are continuing to search for remains today as authorities hunt for the shark.

Drones have been deployed to assist a helicopter in the search, and the Department of Primary Industries is setting up SMART drum lines to catch the animal.

“Whilst we have all assets on the water trying to locate the animal, we just want to make sure that there is no other danger to any swimmers in that area,” Steven Pearce from Surf Life Saving NSW told the ABC.

“Our advice today is for everyone to remain out of the water even though it’s going to be very hot.”