‘Screaming for help': Boy, 9, relives horror moment he was attacked by shark while surfing on NSW south coast
Bowie Daly was surfing along Tathra Beach, a seaside area on the Sapphire Coast in southern NSW, on Thursday when he suddenly felt a 'tug' at the back of his surfboard.
Speaking to the ABC, the nine-year-old said he 'suddenly started drowning' but got back up onto the board.
'When I came back up, I saw a giant back and I realised it was a shark and then I started screaming for help,' he said.
While Bowie escaped virtually unscathed – suffering only a scratch and puncture to his wetsuit – the shark destroyed his beloved surfboard.
His father Simon explained to the ABC his son could have 'lost his whole leg' if he was on the board properly.
'We got really lucky,' he said.
Mr Daly said it was his 'worst nightmare' realising his son had been attacked, before paddling out with another group of surfers to help his son.
'Those seconds and that 20m of paddling was definitely the most intense of my life,' he said.
A NSW Ambulance spokesman confirmed paramedics had been called over the incident but reported no injuries.
According to the Australian Shark-Incident Database (ASID), there has been an average of 20 incidents in which people have been injured by sharks.
On average, there were 2.8 fatalities each year and seven incidents in which the person was uninjured.
Three fatal shark attacks have been recorded so far in 2025 – one each in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.
In January, 28-year-old Lance Appleby disappeared while surfing off Granites Beach, south of Streaky Bay in SA, after being attacked by a shark.
His body has not been recovered and subsequent searches by authorities have been called off.
A month later, Charlize Zmuda, 17, died after being bitten by a shark while swimming at Bribie Island's Woorim Beach.
In March, 37-year-old Steven Payne was surfing at Wharton Beach, about 780km southeast of Perth, when he was attacked by a shark. His body also could not be recovered.
Rising ocean temperatures due to climate change, in addition to a greater number of people swimming in the ocean, have been attributed to the steadily-rising number of attacks over the last 10 years.
Bond University Associate Professor and shark researcher Dr Daryl McPhee said rising water temperatures rise along the coast, specifically around the Greater Sydney region, meant bull sharks were expanding their search for food – moving further south of Sydney and down the coast.
She said an increase in prey in the area – such as humpback whales – had driven the increase of shark sightings and attacks.
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