41-year-old Japanese man died yesterday after being attacked by a shark

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HEAVY rain in northern NSW may have contributed to two shark attacks in two days, one of them fatal, a shark *expert warns.

A 41-year-old Japanese man, Tadashi Nakahara, died yesterday after being attacked by a shark at Ballina in northern NSW.

Mr Nakahara was among a group of surfers at Shelly Beach when the shark, estimated to have been about 4m long, attacked.

He reached the shore, but both his legs had been severed and he died soon after.

Mr Nakahara had been living and working in the area for more than a year and was known in local surfing circles.

The attack, at about 9.45am, came less than 24 hours after *another man was attacked at Byron Bay, about 30km to the north.

Byron Bay chef Jabez Reitman was surfing at Seven Mile Beach on the eastern side of Byron Bay when a 2m-3m shark leapt out of the water and knocked him off his surfboard, but then swam away.

Mr Reitman paddled ashore and drove himself to Byron Bay Hospital before being transferred to Gold Coast Hospital, where he is being treated for lacerations to his back.

The sharks may have been *attracted inshore after heavy rain in the area that had led to *rivers flowing faster than normal and therefore providing more food for sharks, said Bond University associate dean Daryl McPhee.

Dr McPhee, who researches shark habitat and behaviour, said it was highly unlikely the same shark was responsible for both *attacks, given the discrepancy in their *reported size.

“And while a shark can swim 30km overnight, it’s not terribly likely that one would come into shore, take a bite out of someone, then swim for 30km and come into shore to take a bite out of another person,” Dr McPhee said.

Yesterday’s fatal attack is the third in the northern NSW area in the past 18 months, with 19-year-old Zac Young taken at a beach near Coffs Harbour in late 2013 and English expatriate Paul Wilcox, 50, attacked in shallow water at Byron Bay in September.

Dr McPhee said although there had been more shark *attacks, the chances of being taken by a shark were still very small.

“Now is also a time when there is more shark activity,” he said.

“You’ve had rains on land; that leads to more fresh water flowing into the sea, and that brings with it more food for all animals, *including sharks, so there’s a greater chance of them being close to shore,” he said.

“In this case at Ballina, the spot where the guy was taken is pretty close to the mouth of the river.”

He said it was also mating *season for bull and tiger sharks, which meant a change of habitat that might bring sharks closer to shore.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1227213832887


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