Shocked fishermen who helplessly watched a swimmer get fatally mauled by a great white shark have come under fire from callous trolls over their reaction to the tragedy.
A swimmer was attacked by the 4.5m shark off Buchan Point, near Little Bay in Sydney’s south east, at around 4.30pm on Wednesday, not far from fishermen who were casting off the rocks.
Emergency services launched a rescue operation, declaring the man dead after finding human remains in the water about 6pm.
Videos of the terrifying incident have since begun circulating online, showing witnesses watching on as the shark thrashed around in the water.
‘Someone just got eaten by a shark,’ the man recording the video can be heard yelling.
‘Big great white. That’s insane.’
Shocked fishermen (pictured) who witnessed a shark fatally mauling a swimmer have been callously trolled online over their reaction to the tragedy. Above, the sark
The predator’s fin can be seen swerving through the waves as the water turns red and seagulls circle above.
A stunned fisherman standing on the rocks, just metres from the shark, clasps his head with his hand as he turns towards the man filming.
But the footage sparked outrage online, with social media uses slamming the men’s behaviour as ‘disturbing’.
‘This guy just continues to record and the other man looks like he’s still fishing,’ one person wrote on Facebook.
‘Did anyone else notice the guy fishing that didn’t even take his line in or anything? Just kept fishing,’ another said.
‘The video is disturbing, the fact someone was swimming while someone else is fishing on shore? This whole thing is disturbing,’ a third said.
Two police officers search the water’s edge at Buchan Point near Little Bay Beach in Sydney on Thursday
Another person said they were shocked the witnesses were able to ‘just sit there and describe the attack.
In another video posted online, fisherman can be heard screaming as they watch the terrifying incident unfold.
‘Someone just got eaten by a shark. Oh man! Oh no! That’s insane. That’s a great white shark,’ one fisherman yells.
‘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.’
Surf rescue workers searched Little Bay Beach in Sydney’s east for the shark that killed a swimmer as dawn broke on Thursday morning
Other frantic onlookers on the rocks can be heard swearing and screaming in horror.
Buchan Point is a popular spot for rock fishing and spearfishing between Little Bay and Malabar beaches.
The death is the Sydney’s first shark attack fatality since 1963.
Emergency services workers and lifeguards rushed out to the scene in rescue helicopters, boats, and jet skis, in a frantic search to find the swimmer and the predator.
The swimmer’s injuries were so catastrophic there was nothing paramedics could have done to save him, even if they got to him sooner.
It’s understood the victim was a local who knew the beach well and often swam out towards the headland.
Police said DNA testing is now needed to formally identify his body.
‘Footage clearly shows a body, half a body being taken by a shark,’ a police officer told colleagues over a scanner when remains were found an hour later.
Emergency services rushed out to the scene in boats, helicopters, and jet skis, but the swimmer suffered ‘catastrophic’ injuries and could not be saved
Randwick Council has closed all of its 11 beaches for 24 hours in the wake of the attack. Pictured: Fishermen at Little Bay
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.’
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.
Police are working with the Department of Primary Industry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the swimmer.
A report will be prepared for the Coroner.
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