South Australians tell of witnessing shark attacks over the decades

South Australians have a long history of encounters with sharks, dating back to the death of a young sailing ship passenger who fell overboard in 1855.

One afternoon, as the sailing ship Sobella made its way through waters at the top of Gulf St Vincent, a young passenger fell overboard.

As those still on deck – including the boy’s father Captain Coleman – watched on in horror, a large shark swam beneath the boat and snatched the boy in its jaws.

His death, on March 28 1855, appears to be the first recorded fatal shark attack in the history of white South Australia.

Writing to The Register newspaper decades later, Frank Treloar of Kooringa (about 100km inland from Port Wakefield in the state’s mid-north), said the distraught Captain Coleman, his wife and two daughters were brought to his childhood home following the incident.

“At that time it was known a very large shark was about the gulf,” he wrote.

“After this (attack) a reward was offered for its capture, which was accomplished later on, to the relief of everybody.”

The account is among those collated by the Global Shark Accident File that paint a picture of South Australians’ encounters with the ocean predators.

A bronze whaler shark being tracked for research. Photo: Andrew Fox, Rodney Fox Shark Expeditions

Since the colony of South Australia was founded in 1836 there have been at least 25 shark-related deaths in waters off the state’s coast and dozens more injuries and near misses.

In just the past eight months there have been three fatal attacks and two other swimmers seriously hurt by sharks in SA waters.

Historical records show the next fatality recorded after Captain Coleman’s son was taken involved a 16-year-old girl who fell overboard while playing aboard the Bellona on January 14, 1884.

She was the daughter of that ship’s captain, Ben Warren, and according to the Global Shark Accident File “her father saw her fall but could do nothing, for he saw two sharks seize her as soon as she was in the water”.

Now South Australians are again mourning the loss of a young person taken by a shark, following the death of 15-year-old Khai Cowley at Ethel Beach on Thursday afternoon.

It is understood his father Tim witnessed the attack from shore at the Yorke Peninsula surf spot about 300km from Adelaide.

Young surfer Khai Cowley, who was taken by a shark at Ethel Beach. Picture: Seaview Road Board Riders

Hearing news of Khai’s shock loss brought back memories for 80-year-old David Bishop, who was among those who tried to save a teenage boy attacked by a Great White off the jetty at Port Sinclair, on the state’s far west coast, in the early 1960s.

Mr Bishop was visiting the beach with a friend and saw a long line fishing boat returning to the jetty – and a Great White following in its wake, attracted by the catch.

“They knew this white pointer was following them and they were yelling and waving for people to get out of the water, but the little fella didn’t hear them in time,” Mr Bishop said.

“This little lad, he would have been about 13 or 14.

“He was diving off the jetty looking for cockles.

“He was kicking his legs and the shark came up and took his leg.”

Mr Bishop, now a grandfather of eight living in Adelaide, said the fishermen on the boat jumped into the water to help the boy – whose name he could not remember.

“They were very brave,” he said.

“They got him on the rocks and someone tied a tourniquet around his leg.

“Somebody brought a ute onto the jetty and I helped put him in the back of it.

“He was screaming. It was a terrible thing. It was a long time ago now, but things like that you don’t forget.”

A 4.5m Great White shark launches from the water to eat a piece of tuna off the coast of Port Lincoln. Picture: iStock

Sightings of Great White sharks are most common in waters off the state’s far west coast, particularly seal colonies around Ceduna and Streaky Bay, the Neptune Islands and Dangerous Reef off Port Lincoln where there is also high fishing activity, and around Kangaroo Island.

Juvenile white sharks mostly feed on fish and squid and later hunt other sharks, rays and seals. They can grow up to 6m and live for 70 years.

Great Whites are highly mobile, migrating between SA and Western Australia, and do not remain long in the same place.

Some of the more common locations of shark attacks in SA’s history include Cactus Beach on the far west coast, waters off Port Lincoln and metropolitan beaches at Aldinga and Port Noarlunga.

The incident at Port Sinclair was not Mr Bishop’s only brush with an underwater predator.

He believes he was once lined up by a shark that “hit me from the side” while spearfishing with a friend near the reef at Port Noarlunga in the mid-1960s.

“I just saw a blur. It didn’t take me long to get out of the water,” he recalled.

Rodney Fox reveals his scars from a Great White shark attack in 1963.

And Mr Bishop was at the scene of one of SA’s most memorable shark attacks, involving a young man named Rodney Fox.

On December 8, 1963, the now world-famous shark researcher and conservationist was mauled by a Great White during a spearfishing competition at Aldinga Beach.

The animal nearly bit him in half, breaking every rib on the left side of his chest, puncturing a lung and exposing vital organs.

He was rushed to hospital where a four-hour surgery saved his life.

Mr Bishop said he was at Aldinga Beach that day with a friend whose father was taking part in the competition.

He didn’t see the incident or aftermath but had been swimming in the same waters.

Rodney Fox is now 83 and in 2023 received an Order of Australia medal recognising his work in shark biology and tourism.

Shark attack survivor Rodney Fox at the beach where he was attacked.

His son Andrew Fox, 58, said the family still marvelled at how the attack had such a lasting impact on so many people.

“It’s possibly regarded as one of the most serious shark attacks that someone has survived,” Mr Fox said.

“He keeps being put up as famous for being a shark attack survivor, but doesn’t like to promote himself as any sort of hero.

“It was a journey of overcoming fear.”

Mr Fox said news of every shark attack was distressing, but his father’s work aimed to educate people “to appreciate sharks and understand them more”.

Originally published as South Australians tell of witnessing shark attacks over the decades