Kitesurfer killed by shark

NEW CALEDONIA – An Australian kitesurfer has died in a shark attack off New Caledonia’s main island, in the second fatal attack in the South Pacific territory in six months.

Local officials say the 50-year-old man had fallen into the water inside the reef off the northern port of Koumac and was bitten by a large shark on the thigh.

The Marine Rescue Coordination Centre said a nearby catamaran raised the alarm and delivered first aid, but he was declared dead just over an hour later.

“He suffered a deep bite to the thigh from a big shark,” said Nicolas Renaud, head of the archipelago’s marine rescue coordination centre.

The catamaran, Discovery, raised the alarm at 3.48pm and a rescue boat was dispatched.

Renaud said the man went into cardiac arrest and was given first aid by his friends before rescuers arrived.

The rescue boat brought him back to the port of Koumac, where an ambulance was waiting, however the man was declared dead by a doctor at 5pm.

Renaud said the man was from Fremantle in Western Australia.

Australian consular officials are assisting the man’s family.

Local newspaper Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes reported the man was visiting the island for a 10-day holiday.

Witnesses described the shark that attacked the man as large, but were unable to determine what species it may have been.

The attack is the third time this year kitesurfers have been bitten by sharks in New Caledonia. The other two attacks, in February and June, were not fatal.

It is the second fatal shark attack off New Caledonia. In April a woman was killed on a beach on Poe in the west of the island group.

There were 98 shark attacks globally last year – the highest number ever recorded, according to researchers at the University of Florida, which has been collecting data since 1958.

Six of the attacks were fatal.

Theories on the increase include rising water temperatures caused by climate change making sharks change their habits, the El Niño weather pattern, which was particularly powerful last year, and the increasing popularity of water sports.

- ABC/AFP