The victim was surfing off the coast of South Australia when a shark dragged him down. Some wetsuits were later found.
An Australian man is presumed dead after being attacked by a shark while surfing. (Credit: DigtialStorm/Getty Images)
A shark in Australia attacked and possibly killed a man after repeatedly biting its victim and dragging it underwater. Witnesses reported that the shark returned to the victim three times — an atypical behavior in an already rare attack.
Simon Baccanello, a 46-year-old teacher, disappeared on May 14 while surfing off the coast of South Australia. He was one of a dozen surfers in the water at the time. The attack was witnessed by a bystander, Jaiden Miller, who told the Adelaide advertiser, "I saw his skateboard erected with a tombstone, which means he was underwater and his skateboard was towed underwater... Trying to get back to the surface.
"He [Baccanello] is gone. [We] saw sharks just rolling around in their backs. The shark apparently let go and came back, catching him for the third time. ”
In a statement released on May 15, South Australian police said emergency services failed to locate his body but found a wetsuit and white polystyrene fragments believed to be surfboard material, thus presumed the victim was dead.
Deadly shark attacks are extremely rare. According to the Florida Museum's International Shark Attack Archive, there were five known deadly attacks worldwide in 2022.
Most shark attacks are the result of mistaken people. From below, swimmers and surfers are virtually indistinguishable from seals – seals are sharks' favorite prey – a point highlighted by research published in 2021. In most cases, sharks realize that a person is not food and swim away. Post-episode blood loss is the leading cause of death.
Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Shark Studies Program at the Florida Museum, said repeated shark attacks on a person are "atypical, but not unheard of."
He told Live Science in an email: "If the bite is motivated by predation or territorial awareness, they can take a bite first and then bite later. The reasons for returning the victims depend on the species involved and are not known in recent events.
"For example, great white sharks [Carcharodon carcharias] often ambush seals, taking a 'sudden' bite from below, then waiting for seals to bleed and become weak before returning (seals are scary animals that can harm sharks that attack them, so white sharks carefully avoid them until they weaken)," Naylor said.
The animal's emotional state also affects its aggressiveness and whether it will bite again. "If a shark is excited and has been foraging where other sharks compete for limited food, they may become 'excited' and become more stubborn/aggressive," Naylor added.
Baccanello will be the second person in Australia to be killed by a shark this year. On Feb. 4, 16-year-old Stella Berry was killed by a bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) in the Swan River in Western Australia after jumping into the water to swim.