British man killed by shark in Sydney’s first fatal attack in almost 60 years

Devastating.

A British swimmer in Australia has been killed by a 15ft great white shark, making it Sydney's first fatal shark attack in 59 years. Simon Nellist was training for a charity swim when he was attacked only metres from Buchan Point, near Little Bay. The man's remains were found in the water yesterday after witnesses watched the attack in horror and were unable to help. Simon's friends have since revealed that he was a diving instructor and was getting married sometime soon. "Everything that is connected to Simon is connected to the ocean," friend Della Ross told 7News. "The news hit us like a truck because he was one of the people who make this earth lighter." Simon had spent a lot of time in the sea recently as he was training for the Malabar ocean swim this weekend, which has now been cancelled. Experts are saying that the shark most likely mistook Simon for a seal as he was reportedly wearing a wetsuit. Australian authorities are now using helicopters and drones to hunt for the shark, with a coastguard team on jet skis is also patrolling a 25km stretch of Bondi Beach to Cronulla. Swimmers have since been banned from the water with most of Sydney's beaches now closed. This was the first fatal attack by a shark since 1963, with the New South Wales state government spending millions on technology to reduce shark attacks. Nets have currently been deployed at 51 beaches as well as drones and shark listening stations that track great whites by satellite and send an alert when one is spotted are in use. Last year in total, there were 73 shark attacks around the world, with 11 of those being fatal. This was an increase from 52 occurring in 2020 with the pandemic being the reason for the increase.