By Antony Sguazzin.
Photo Credit: Gallo Images.
A fatal shark attack on Tuesday off the coast of South Africa’s KuGompo (formerly East London), the southern coast city’s first in almost three decades, resulted in authorities closing two beaches.
“A shark attack occurred at Orient Beach this morning,” the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, which includes KuGompo, said on its Facebook page, referring to the death of a 65-year-old woman who’s identity is yet to be made public. “This resulted in a tragic incident.”
South Africa ranks third after the US and Australia in terms of reported shark attacks since records began, with 255, according to the International Shark Attack File, which is affiliated with the Florida Museum and has been tracking incidents since 1958.
In the decade to 2021, there were six fatalities in South African waters.
While the type of shark in Tuesday’s attack hasn’t been confirmed, there has been concern over the past few years that Great White sharks have moved east along the coast after unusually few were spotted off Cape Town following the arrival of two orcas that preyed on them. Similar patterns have occurred several times off California’s Farallon Islands after orca attacks.
In 2022, there were two fatal attacks off Plettenberg Bay in the space of three months, the first there in 11 years, prompting the deployment of shark spotters at high points along the coastline to warn bathers when the predators swam close to beaches.