CAPE Town – The beaches in Jeffreys Bay have been closed, and beachgoers have been urged to be cautious after a Cape Town man was bitten by a shark while surfing.
The Kouga Municipality in the Eastern Cape said that it has closed beaches in Jeffreys Bay following the shark incident.
“The beach/swimming area from The Point to Kabeljauws in Jeffreys Bay is closed for swimmers and surfers after a surfer was attacked by a shark at The Point earlier this morning.
“The surfer, who is from Cape Town and has been bitten twice by the shark, is stable and being attended to by medical staff,” the municipality said.
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) in also appealing to surfers, bathers and paddlers to be cautious around the Jeffreys Bay coastline after the 38-year-old man was bitten while surfing.
The NSRI said that its Jeffreys Bay duty crew was activated at 7.07am on Wednesday after receiving reports of the incident.
“While responding to the scene, NSRI were informed that the surfer was out of the water.
“An NSRI Bakoven crewman who happened to be there at the time, initiated medical treatment using an NSRI shark kit from the NSRI shark kit box that is stationed at The Point Beach,” the NSRI said.
Gardmed Ambulance Service, Eastern Cape Government Health EMS, Private Care Ambulance Services and Exec Ops security responded to the scene.
“Paramedics treated the man on the scene for puncture wounds to his right leg and his torso and he has been transported to hospital by Gardmed ambulance in a stable condition.”
“It appears that while surfing fellow surfers saw the man appear to fall off his board. It was then discovered, according to eye-witness reports, that he may have been bumped off his board and bitten by a shark and we believe he managed to get back onto his board and he was assisted out of the water by fellow surfers.”
NSRI has launched a sea rescue craft, at the request of Kouga Municipality, to patrol the surf-line and to alert surfers who may not yet be aware of this shark incident.