ENVIRONMENT
Sydney beaches closed as hunt for killer shark continues
February 17, 2022 - Authorities in Sydney are searching for a great white shark that killed a diving instructor in the city’s first fatal attack in almost 60 years.
Related Graphics
View More
A 35-year-old certified diving instructor from Sydney has been named as the victim of a fatal shark attack off the city’s coast.
Simon Nellist from Wolli Creek was swimming at Little Bay when he was attacked just after 4.30pm (local time) on Wednesday.
Witness testimony of the shark’s size and and behaviour points to it being a great white shark – likely 4 or 5 metres long. In the frenzied attack, Nellis received catastrophic injuries, with some of his remains found in Little Bay shortly afterwards.
It is Sydney’s first fatal shark attack since 1963, when actor Marcia Hathaway was savaged by a bull shark at Sugarloaf Bay, in Middle Harbour.
Beaches from Bondi to Cronulla will remain closed until at least Friday, while the hunt for the shark continues.
- Sydney shark attack victim identified as scuba diving instructor from Wolli Creek (ABC)
- Diving instructor Simon Nellist named as Little Bay shark victim (Sydney Morning Herald)
- Sydney Beaches – from Bondi to Cronulla – are closed following fatal shark attack (Broadsheet)
- Shark attack in Sydney Harbour (Australian National Maritime Museum)
- Australia: Confirmed unprovoked shark attacks (University of Florida)