WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Authorities announced on Friday that a surfer who went missing in Australia is feared to have lost his life following a shark attack, as search efforts continued in the vicinity where he was last seen.

The 28-year-old man was surfing at a well-known surf beach located in South Australia, an area where another individual had met a fatal end due to a white shark earlier in 2023.

Senior Constable Rebecca Stokes reported to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that a witness observed the attack on Thursday evening at Granites Beach, close to the town of Streaky Bay. After witnessing the incident, the witness used a jet ski to enter the water and recover the man’s surfboard. However, despite these efforts, there has been no further indication of the man’s presence. “From what the witnesses described, we are fairly certain that he has tragically been taken by the shark,” Stokes stated.

Stokes also mentioned that the particular beach is noted for shark activity but did not reveal the specific species believed to be involved in this tragic incident.

On Friday, emergency services and volunteers conducted offshore searches for the missing local man, while the beach was closed to the public. According to a statement, police were also preparing for a coroner’s investigation into the circumstances surrounding the event.

Shark attacks are generally infrequent in Australia, with the Australian Shark Incident Database documenting a total of 255 fatal bites since 1791 in the nation with a population of 27 million.

Nonetheless, the state of South Australia has seen an unusual increase in such incidents over the past couple of years, recording five shark attacks off its coast in 2023—three of which were fatal, including the attack that occurred at the same beach as Thursday’s tragedy.

Scientists had previously indicated that the reasons for this uptick in shark attacks were unclear. Additionally, one non-fatal shark bite was reported off the coast of South Australia in 2024.