You want tragic irony?
Back in March, a thirty-seven-year-old Melbourne surfer, just five weeks into a six-month vacay around Australia with his girl and dog, was killed by a Great White shark in that pretty little West Oz town Esperance.
Not a particularly unusual story in Australia these days, and particularly Esperance, as you know.
At the time it was the fourth fatal shark attack in Australia in seventy-two days and the fourth fatal attack by a Great White in the area.
Regular readers don’t have to scroll too far back in the BeachGrit files to hit the story of Esperance surfers Andrew Sharpe, disappeared by a Great White in 2020, and teenager Laticia Brouwers killed in front of her family by a Great White in 2017.
Steven Payne’s attack was captured by drone, the footage mercifully unreleased and, surprisingly, unleaked.
“It (the drone footage) shows a lot of blood, the shark and some other things in there I don’t particularly want to go into and I don’t think anybody else needs to see other than maybe the coroner and some other experts who will determine the type of shark and size,” Esperance police Senior Sergeant Chris Taylor, who called off the search for Payne after seeing the vision, said at the time.
An inquest into the death has now revealed Payne was in Streaky Bay a few days earlier being killed and was tossing up whether or not to surf at Granites, the same joint local surfer Lance Appleby was disappeared by a Great White in January and where, the previous year, Tod Gendle was hit, killed and disappeared by a fifteen-foot Great White while surfing among a crowd of a dozen surfers.
Yeah, that’s irony.
“They were aware of a fatal shark attack at the location on January 2, 2025 and following speaking with locals they ultimately decided not to enter the water, Senior Constable Assisting the Coroner Craig Robertson told the inquest, and reported by WA Today. “They had discussed wearing [shark deterrents] prior to their visit to Granites Beach. Unfortunately, they thought after leaving South Australian waters it would be safe to enter the water without them.”
The inquest heard Payne went to surf while his gal read on the beach.
An hour later “she glanced up and saw a large commotion in the water approximately 60 metres offshore. It took her a few seconds to realise she was witnessing a shark attacking a surfer,” Robinson said. “She ran to the shore shouting to alert others of the shark’s presence, but did not think that it was Steven being attacked, as the surfboard she could see looked too short to be his. She then realised that the commotion was where she had last seen Steven and the victim of the attack was wearing the same distinctive sun hat that he wore. From what she witnessed, she immediately knew that Steven was dead.”
A Department of Primary Industries scientist said the shark was a ten-foot Great White.
Robinson also told the court that Payne and his gal “made it very clear her and Steven do not support shark culling.”
I don’t know… maybe he just wants people… not to be killed regularly??
This while Ben Gravy is hyping surfing with 500 juvies off La Jolla.
Worldwide cull to action. This is enough.
WA and SA very very sharky , better off going somewhere else
Surf is terrible anyhow
Cull
This story has some teeth.
Maybe a cull of blow hard surf photogs that exploit things for a living would be a better cull.
Tragic irony? I gotcha: no genocide in Gaza. Ain’t that right Dez? One way or the other.
Not to make light of one dude’s suffering but the plight of one as compared to that of many is the measure by which things can be measured.
Gaza is not a “genocide” – the State of Israel and the IDF are removing a terrorist group, Hamas from their elected position as the political and military representative of the people of Gaza.
Nothing to do with ethnicity.
genocide
/ˈdʒɛnəsʌɪd/
noun
the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular ethnic group with the aim of destroying that group.
10 Palestinian children killed waiting in line for medical treatment in the past 24 hours. Easy to get them mixed up with a terrorist group eh?
As reported by who?
It was also widely reported by the BBC and others that “14 000 babies would die overnight” if Israel did not provide food and shelter for them.
Until 1967, the people of the Gaza Strip were Egyptian nationals with Egyptian passports.
After the 1967 war, they became Israel’s problem – so why doesn’t EGYPT take in thousands of its former citizens or provide ANY food or medical supplies?
Egypt has done nothing for its fellow Muslims and former citizens other than put up a giant fence to keep all Gazans OUT of Egypt and has not provided any significant amounts of food or medical supplies to Gaza for many years.
Hamas absolutely needs to be defanged, but in many instances, this also looks like throwing a brick at a window to kill a fly. Israel has this tendency to be very precise at the beginning of operations and rather sloppy as they progress in that regard. This full-scale operation needs to draw to a close one way or another, as it has been diminishing returns for them for quite awhile.
Hamas has a confirmed tactic of embedding their command structures within hospitals and concentrations of displaced people – so when the IDF goes in to kill a confirmed Hamas member; frequently a commander or higher ranking individual, the civilians they are sheltering behind are killed as well.
Yet the headlines are always “IDF KILLS TEN BABIES IN REMORSELESS ATTACK” rather than the more accurate “Cowardly Hamas commander hides behind civilians, is killed by IDF precision strike”
Isn’t that true?
oh, Hamas should absolutely understand that human shields aren’t going to work this juncture. But Israel has reached a point where they have no strategic approach about what the fuck they are going to do with Gaza. Just like with their strikes on Iran, Israel is insanely precise at tactics, but a bit rudderless at the strategic.
You are a very odd socket. If you find time for something other than shilling your coffee table and outhouse tome you could read the fucking convention which provides the actual definition. Once again for your reading pleasure:
https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf
Not buying a copy of his book then?
Not a problem if kooks don’t buy surfEXPLORE: Discovering New Surfing Locations Worldwide
Doing well for pre-orders on Amazon!
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
out this September!
IYKYK – If You Know, You Know
Can’t believe sharks don’t respect the SA/WA border.
Australian animals, land or oceanic, don’t respect anything. They’re bloody feral.
So there are large white sharks in WA and SA as well as medium white sharks in NSW and QL. In SA there are large white sharks and bull sharks. In California there are lots of small white sharks below PT Conception and bigger ones north of PT Conception. In Florida there’s lots of small spinner sharks and some bull sharks. In Hawaii there’s lots of tiger sharks. Wave pools have had zero shark attacks. The choice is obvious.
A trip to Indo 👍
🐊🐊🐊
Yeah, they have tiger sharks, great whites, bulls, white tips, black tips, hammerheads, saltwater crocs, and a plethora of deadly lands creatures. But the waves are fucking worth it.
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They are around for sure. Surprising that there is not more attacks. The most dangerous thing for surfers in Indo is how many of the crew zoom around on scooters when they have no motorbike experience
Once you get into some of the deeper areas it’s the mosquitos that will get ya. I can tell you firsthand that malaria ain’t fun.
Just don’t surf balian.
I did notice a few of the crew there wearing those Sharkbanz ankle straps last time I surfed Balian.
surfing in Lombok one time, getting near dusk….just four of us.
next thing we notice a shark feeding frenzy on the inside where the wave ends in deeper flat water, between the wave and the shore.
we actually had to paddle though the frenzy to get to shore, sharks chasing fish all around us. sketchy.
Go dive the ledge between Lakey Pipe and the Peak. Places is teeming with sharks but they are pretty harmless reef sharks.
yep. seen heaps of sharks whilst surfing Indo.
also, had a small encounter with a sizable tiger on the same trip.
the frenzy was a bunch of small reefies, but still a bit weird paddling through them. no deep strokes.
Its the kooks that will kill you in indo
Russian ran over a grom at Tiger tracks the other day, ending his holiday
I’ve heard that Tiger Tracks is a Russian favourite now. Seems crazy to go all that way just to surf that wave
Russians should be banned from traveling
Along with Brazilians
Easy. Cull the Russians.
Whether or not there’s public support for shark culls, at a certain point people are gonna start taking it their own hands. It’s really not hard to bait hooks, kill any great whites that end up on them and leave the bodies out in the ocean.
Humans have an incredible amount of empathy toward wildlife. Which is objectively admirable to have not only interest, but love toward to prehistoric predators.
But, that pendulum can swing so far toward the empathetic side that it lacks a grip on reality. 4 deaths in less than 3 months is pretty drastic even for WA.
We have ample abilities to understand population sizes and what that means when it’s keystone species. If those who are paid to protect those who pay their salaries do not actually look into this, then those who are paying will just take matters in their own hand.
I support shark culling!
Until the policies supported at the state and the federal level in Australia are changed, policies that prioritise the health, safety and well-being of large sharks at the expense of humans who use the ocean for recreation and for work, more surfers and divers will continue to die from encounters with large sharks.
A shark cull is necessary – now.
If it was dingoes attacking people they would cull the pack, guaranteed.
In less than five minutes –
Whens the bookburning/ signing?do you want me to bring anything ? Petrol and sugar work a treat !
I think there should be snacks and beer – we will need a suitable facility, for safety reasons and proof of purchase for surfEXPLORE: Discovering New Surfing Locations Worldwide at full retail price –
I see you’ve been making friends at Swellnet.
Wonderful group of warm-hearted, supportive and welcoming fellows over there – always so kind and friendly
You could’ve been a tad nicer to them.
Always such a kind, friendly and welcoming bunch of blokes –
Hi john.callahan, tearymasseuse has commented on: “Watch: J-Bay Warm Up Sessions” —- ^ go jam a cold chisel up ya clacker … farkhead 😉
That’s a fair enough request if you ask me.
I don’t appreciate being contradicted – when I know very well what I am talking about
But – when you cast pearls before swine, you should know what to expect –
Boomer on Facebook like smug responses?
jou ma se poes
I’m scared to ask which wind direction a jbay is offshore!
I only wanted a J-Bay forecast and got a chest beating session. lol
IYKYK –
Sorry I don’t understand teenage.
If You Know, You Know = IYKYK
Fuck that was wild
Southwest is the preferred wind direction –
Northeast is onshore, regardless of what Craig Brokensha says –
Northwest is up the face, the so-called “devil wind” that puts speed-bump chops on the wave and makes it hard to surf –
Your upcoming “book” going to employ this same copy and paste strategy?
Copied and pasted from where? I write all my own materials, thanks –
My new book, surfEXPLORE:Discovering New Surfing Locations Worldwide is likewise all original work – all 304 pages with 56 982 words, no AI and certainly no copy and paste.
623 of the 624 images in THE BOOK are likewise © John Seaton Callahan
Maybe you can share with us the listing(s) for your published books, so we can insult you by implying you copied and pasted your text materials?
Thanks!
Why are you blowing up places? For money?
Oh and I went there heaps and North is the devil wind. Cunt.
Xox
Perhaps you could show a sign of intelligence and wait until the book is actually published before jumping to conclusions regarding the contents and intentions of the author?
Place your pre-order now, so you are assured of receiving a physical copy as soon as they are available –
Get this JSC clown out of here, we don’t need monetization in the comments. A surf book, fuck off.
I’m sure I can finger his bumhole out of here.
Xox
Because he is the ultimate cunty kunt. I assume the C in JSC stands for cunt.
John Semen Cunt.
Xox
ya gotta love a guy that blocks others from seeing and responding to their cuntent. JSC stands for Justa Sad Cunt
I’ve been published on BG. Do a search, you’ll find them.
Makos and White Sharks evolved from a common ancestor 60+ million years ago. Surfing in Australia started in 1915. Respect the locals, ya blow in.
The earth isn’t here to be our playground. The sharks aren’t doing anything wrong.
Neither are we when we cull them. They kill us, we kill them.
Well, actually, that is doing something wrong. Sharks aren’t biting humans to purposely upset the ecological balance so they can play in the ocean now are they. Maybe try some actual thinking, Thinker.