A great white shark ate a swimmer for his clothes

Simon Nelist was attacked Wednesday afternoon the 16th in the waters off the coast of Little Bay, Sydney, AustraliaAnd the During training for a charity swimming event that was scheduled to take place yesterday, it was discontinued after the tragedy. Nelist, 35, of Penzance, west Cornwall, was the first fatal shark attack victim in the Australian city since 1963, which has now temporarily closed all of its beaches.

Some experts have claimed that Simon may have been mistaken for the usual prey of the greats the White shark because for him suits The dark neoprene he swam in made him look like a seal. Simon, who was about to marry his Australian girlfriend, had the same routine: he swam in the same spot down the canal from Little Bay to Malaba almost every day, traveling from his home in Woolley Creek, about 10 kilometers away.

Simon was notable for always wearing a wetsuit, an unusual habit given how warm the water was. Local swimmer Barbara, 85, told australia daily mail: “He always wore a wetsuit, but the water here is quite warm and no one wears it.” While expert Chris Pippen-Neff said the silhouette created by the clothes likely confused the shark, which was lurking in the depths. Said the University of Sydney academic and author of Flaws: Shark Bites and Emotional Public Policy “It’s not crazy that sharks think humans are seals.”

“It’s possible that there have only been 10 or 12 such attacks in the last 30 years in the entire world,” explained Chris Pippen-Neff. “It’s not crazy that sharks give birth to humans thinking we might be prey,” he said. Marine scientist Vanessa Perrotta described such events as “rare and uncommon,” telling ABC News that it’s possible “we’ll never see a shark again.”