15-year-old surfer dies in South Australia state's third fatal shark attack since May

A 15-year-old surfer has died in the third fatal shark attack in the waters off South Australia state in recent months.

Khai Cowley was attacked by a suspected great white shark Thursday while surfing with his father off the remote Ethel Beach on the Yorke Peninsula west of his hometown of Adelaide, authorities said.

He was brought to shore but emergency services were unable to revive him.

Surfers died in shark attacks in remote parts of South Australia in May and October. Their bodies were never recovered.

South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas said there have been 11 fatal shark attacks in the state’s waters since 2000.

The fact that three of those fatalities occurred since May is “startling and is of concern,” he told Nine Network television Friday.

Malinauskas said there was little the government could do to make beaches safer outside Adelaide, the state capital and its most populous city.

Outside the state, a 16-year-old girl killed by a bull shark in a river in the west coast city of Perth in February was the only other fatal shark attack in Australia during 2023.

Adelaide-based shark expert Andrew Fox said the increase in shark attacks in South Australia this year, including two non-fatal attacks, was difficult to explain. He said overcast conditions like those at Ethel Beach on Thursday can embolden sharks to attack.