Sydney shark attack updates: Swimmers are spotted getting into the water

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Swimmers have been seen getting into the water at the Sydney beach where a man was eaten alive by a four-and-a-half metre great white shark, just a day after the horrific attack. 

A man was taking an afternoon swim off Little Bay near Malabar on Wednesday when he was mauled to death in the city’s first fatal shark attack in 60 years.

Randwick City beaches – including Little Bay – were ordered to shut for 24 hours as authorities continue searching for the shark and the remains of the victim. 

But the brutal attack did not deter swimmers spotted in the water at Little Bay Beach on Thursday morning, ignoring signage and barricades warning of shark activity.  

Randwick City Council said beaches in Little Bay, Malabar, Maroubra, Coogee, Clovelly and La Perouse will continue to stay closed. 

‘Our beaches remain closed today as Lifeguards use drones and jet skis to check the area for any further shark sightings,’ the council said on Thursday. 

Divers are expected to be brought in later today to help locate the further remains of the victim.   

‘We have chop out here, it drops off quickly, it adds to the complexity of (the search),’ Shaun Daw from Westpac Rescue Helicopter told Today.

‘That’s why we are pulling out everything we can.’ 

Regarded by locals as one of the best kept secrets in Sydney’s east, the beach was packed with dozens of swimmers, paddle boarders and rock fishermen at the time of the attack.

They were alerted of the danger by the swimmer’s ear-piercing screams but could do nothing but watch on in shock as the monster shark ripped him into two and ‘swallow parts of his body’. 

Shocking footage showed the predator thrashing around in the ocean and dragging its victim underwater as the sea turned red with blood, sparking panic on shore.

The scenes were just as confronting for emergency service workers and lifeguards sent out in boats, rescue helicopters and on jet skis, deployed in a frantic search of the swimmer and the killer predator. 

‘Footage clearly shows a body, half a body being taken by a shark,’ a police officer told colleagues over a scanner when human remains were found an hour later.

The swimmer’s injuries were so catastrophic there was nothing paramedics could have done to save him, even if they got to him sooner. 

Back on shore, dozens of fishermen and beachgoers were still reeling in shock as the desperate hunt for the predator continued.

The tragedy unfolded at Buchan Point, a popular spot for rock fishing and spearfishing between Little Bay and Malabar beaches.

‘Someone just got eaten by a shark. Oh man! Oh no! That’s insane. That’s a great white shark,’ one fisherman can be heard yelling in footage.

‘The person’s still there! 

‘I just saw a four to five metre great white explode on the surface just here on a swimmer and it was like a car landing in the water.

‘F*** man, I heard a scream and the shark was just chomping on his body and the body was in half just off the rocks here.

‘It came back and swallowed parts of his body and that was it. It disappeared.’

Other frantic onlookers on the rocks can be heard swearing and screaming in horror. 

It’s understood the victim was a local who knew the beach well and often swam out towards the headland. 

‘Some guy was swimming and a shark came and attacked him vertically,’ fisherman Kris Linto told Nine News. 

‘We heard a yell and turned around it looked like a car had landed in the water, a big splash then the shark was chomping at the body and there was blood everywhere.

‘It was really bad.’ 

Another shaken witness recalled how the attack lasted just seconds.

‘He was yelling at first, and then when he went down there were so many splashes,’ he told the ABC.

‘The shark wouldn’t stop. 

‘It’s very, very upsetting. He just went down for a swim, enjoying the day, but that shark took his life.’

Four ambulance road crews and a rescue helicopter with a critical care doctor and a critical care paramedic on board attended the scene in the hope of saving his life. 

‘Unfortunately this person had suffered catastrophic injuries and there wasn’t a lot paramedics could do when we arrived,’ NSW Ambulance Inspector Lucky Phrachanh said.

Police spent several hours at the scene interviewing shocked witnesses and later removed an SUV from the carpark at nearby Malabar Beach.

The search for the shark was later called off for the night, and is due to resume at first light on Thursday.  

The tragedy has rocked the local community as Randwick Council closed all 11 of its beaches for at least 24 hours, including Little Bay.

Popular swimming spots such as Malabar, Maroubra, Coogee, Clovelly and La Perouse will also be closed along with Congwong, Little Congwong and Yarra Bay beaches, Frenchmans Bay and Gordons Bay.

Many Sydneysiders had hoped to spend Thursday in the ocean with temperatures to reach a balmy 31C. 

Signage and barricades have been installed warning swimmers to stay out of the water.

Little Bay Beach is regarded as one of Sydney’s undiscovered jewels and a ‘secret’ beach popular with locals.

‘The coast is our community’s backyard. Little Bay is normally such a calm, beautiful place enjoyed by families,’ Randwick mayor Dylan Parker said.

‘To lose someone to a shark attack like this is chilling. We are all in shock.

‘Our entire community’s hearts go out to the family of the victim.’ 

Many locals have vowed to avoid the water for a while in the wake of the tragedy. 

A local woman who regularly goes swimming around the area said the attack ‘made her think twice’. 

‘So many locals go out swimming here, every day, and I’ve never seen a shark,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.

‘It’s terrifying’. 

The latest tragedy comes after the death of a father and son rock fishing at the same site two weeks ago.

Peter and his son Mahan, 10, were fishing on a rock face at Little Bay on the last day of the school holidays on January 31 when they were dragged into the water by a freak wave.

‘My husband and my son were just a few steps in front of me and now they are gone forever,’ Peter’s heartbroken wife told the Daily Telegraph.

‘I wish it was me instead of my little boy.

‘I don’t have the will to live.’ 

It’s the first fatal shark attack in Sydney since 1963 when actress Marcia Hathaway, 32, was mauled by while on a boating trip in Sugarloaf Bay in Middle Harbour.

She was attacked by a bull shark in just 30 inches (76cm) of water as her fiancé and friends watched on in horror.

‘I heard Marcia scream ‘oh dear’, and then she was dragged into deep water,’ her fiance Frederick Knight said at the time.

‘I started to run to her and saw the fin of a shark.

‘It seemed to have grabbed her on the calf of her right leg.

‘When I reached Marcia, it struck again and seized her on the thigh.

‘I started to kick the shark and beat it with my fists, most of the struggle is a blank but I remember at one time the shark was between my legs and I seemed to be straddling it.’

The critically injured actress was stretchered in an ambulance, which then broke down while navigating the steep track from the harbour. 

She had stopped breathing by the time a second ambulance arrived.

Police will liaise with the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the swimmer. 

‘DPI extends sincere condolences to the family and friends and first responders at this tragic time’, a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.

‘DPI will continue to work with NSW Police and SLS NSW to monitor the area and provide any technical advice and resources if required, including deploying SMART drumlines in the area.’ 

The department has also advised a bull shark was detected 15km further north near Bondi an hour after the attack. It has not been confirmed the shark is linked to the attack. 

A SharkSmart app provided by the New South Wales government alerts swimmers and surfers in real time when a shark is detected nearby.