KILLED BY SHARK.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20917, 6 January 1930, Page 10

KILLED BY SHARK.

SYDNEY HARBOUR TRAGEDY. - TRAGIC BOXING DAY INCIDENT. A large shark attacked and ki jd William Oakley, aged 16 years, of Balmain, Sydney, in White Bay, on the morning of Boxing Day. Oakley and several young companions had gone down to White Bay, near the Bald Rock jetty, to have a swim before lunch. It is an industrial part of the harbour, where dark, sluggish water washes tircdly against barnacle-covered piles or narrow beaches a few feet wide, which slope quickly down into the deep water. It is very industrialised. Bathing there is not as exhilarating and exciting as at the great surf beaches; but all the hoys of the locality know Bald Rock wharf. They stuff a pair of bathert in their pocket and say: “I’m going down to ‘ Old Baldy,’ ” and off they go gaily. It was of such a party that Oakley was a member. His companians were dressing while he had a last dive and swim, and at least one of them saw him suddenly disappear beneath the surface. This was not alarming, for he was a good-swimmer, and they waited to sec his smiling face reappear unexpectedly at some other point to which he had swum under Water. They were waiting to give him a hearty cheer when lie reappeared. Then there was a commotion. Oakley’s white face appeared. He was beating the water frenziedly. Blood appeared on the surface. The long, grey shape of a tiger shark leapt out of the water, mad with ferocity, “ Shark, shark! ” rose the frantic cry. After the second rush at Oakley the shark—a particularly savage member of the species—remained for a time circling round the injured boy, and was driven away only when a launch owner pushed his boat over the scene. “ I was in my boat at the time,” said Mr Carl Hoglund, the owner of the small motor launch on whose deck Oakley was dragged after the attack. “I was taking a picnic party out for the morning, and was erecting a canvas shelter, as I thought it might rain Four boys were swimming in the y near me and another boy was standing on tho wharf. “ Suddenly the boy cried, ‘ The shark has got him,' and though the boys arc always calling this out, I ran to the front of the boat and saw the boy struggling frantically in a patch of blood. “ Round and round his. body swam a great shark, so closely that its torpedo body was curved like a hoop. It circled round time after time at a great pace, with its fin and tail jutting high out of tho water. I grabbed an oar which I keep in the boat and pushed my boat towards Oakley. When I got close to him I still kept the oar in my hand, as I thought that I might be able to beat oil the shark if it followed him right •» the side. It was determined not to let the poor boy go. I jabbed the oar in the water. Then the shark dived into the depths and disappeared. “ I put out my hands and tried to drag him from the water,” continued Mr Hoglund, “but the weight was too great, and when I attempted to raise hjm by tho arms and saw what had happened I called for help, and a boy j imped ou the boat and wo lifted him to the deck. I was too upset to wait and walked away.” Oakley's right arm had been torn- off below tho shoulder, there were teethmarks—a double row—on his chest, tho thumb of his right baud was missing, there were abrasions where the rough hide of the monster had brushed against him, and there was a jagged wound near his left thigh. Mr William Robinson, who helped to raise Oakley from the water, said: “ When he was first struck he was at least 20 yards from the wharf. In spite of hit. wounds he bravely struggled to tho launch, with tbc shark following bit all the time, and for this reason I think that ho was bitten again and again, both on the hip and arms. “ When Carl Hoglund called 1 1 can’t raise him,’ I jumped on the boat and helped to pull Oakley on board. I could see that he was nearly dead, but I ran into a shop on the ferry wharf and got a towel to cover the wounds. While he was being lifted from the launch to the wharf ho died.” “ I’m done,” were Oakley’s last words. The whole affair had taken plac.v within a few moments. Oakley’s companions, who had seen him enter the water two or three minutes earlier, thought that bo had been attacked by cramp or was playing in the water until thi y heard the cry of “ Shark” then a ild scatter from the bay took place. They were horrified when they realised what had occurred and watched tbc red patch in the bay spread with almost unbelievable rapidity until it was yards across. Assistance was summoned from an ambulance by Mrs Ificld, who was in the shop on the ferry wharf near the scene of the tragedy. She had seen Oakley come down to -tho waterside- and enter a small shed, where he changed his clothes. Several minutes later she heard the cry of “ Shark,” and looking out of the window she saw hr had been taken. Within a few minutes of the call the am balance was at the wharf, and an attempt was made to save Oakley’s life. The wounds made by tho shark’s jaws were so extensive that the onlookers who arrived first had been unable to do much, and even the skilled work of the ambulance men was unavailing. Bathing off the wharf has been for a considerable’time a popular pastime in the locality. It was known that sharks were occasionally seen in White Bay, but no one had previously been attacked. Mr Hoglund said he frequently saw large sharks near the wharf, and that he had often been called by boys who saw sharks passing.

Later the shark returned to the spot and cruised menacingly about. Unsuccessful efforts were made during the afternoon and night to catpure the monster.