15-year-old Khai Cowley has been identified as the victim of a shark attack that took place yesterday, Thursday, December 28, at Ethel Wreck Beach on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula, reported the American website Surfline.

Khai was an active member and competitor representing the Seaview Road Boardriders club, a third generation member of the club who paid tribute to him on their Facebook page saying that “he was a true club man, a “Roader” and that the club was proud to give him the award for the best grom of 2023”.

“You will live on in our hearts and memories,” they added.

Surfing South Australia also paid tribute to him, saying that he was deeply involved in the surfing community because of his passion and because he came from a family with deep surfing roots. “He was a happy, gentle and respectful young man who was much loved by his fellow surfers.”

According to reports in non-endemic media, such as Adelaide's The Advertiser, the young man was bitten on the leg by an unidentified shark and bled to death; his father, who was sharing the surfing session with him, tried to help him.

"The shark circled around them as the man pulled the young man out of the water. There was a lot of blood," said a witness.

This is the third fatal shark attack in South Australia this year.