Popular tourist attraction Nahoon Beach in East London has been temporarily closed to all beach-goers after a shark attack was reported on Thursday morning.
The Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality confirmed to TimesLive that a shark had attacked a man while he was out surf skiing just off Nahoon Reef at around 7am. Thankfully the paddler managed to get away without suffering any injuries.
“The paddler is fine with no injuries,” the city said in a statement, but ”the beach will remain closed as a safety precaution.”
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) issued a statement earlier this week urging those visiting beaches during the holiday season to only swim at beaches that are protected by certified lifeguards and to only swim in between the lifeguard posted flags.
Speaking to TimesLive, Roger Swinney, the paddler who survived the attack said, “The shark came up and bit the back of my ski. It left a 40cm gaping hole in my boat. I shouted, ‘Shark!’ to my son [Luke]. He was very brave. He told me to get onto the back of his ski and he paddled us to shore.”
City officials will continue to monitor the beach for the foreseeable future to ensure no further attacks take place.