Person overboard dragged into water by great white shark in Australia, witnesses say

8:21 am today

Dr. Greg Skomal, Shark Researcher for Massachusetts Marine Fisheries, captures video footage of a Great White Shark, while the crew listens for its radio tag, off the coast of Chatham, Massachusetts, on October 21, 2022. “We're discovering new aspects about their biology, we never even knew before,” said Dr. Greg Skomal, 61, a shark researcher for the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries. “For example, we discovered that white sharks travel out into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. And when they do that, they dive down to depths as great as 3,000 feet (914 meters.) Nobody knew that.” Data and research gained by these tagging trips and ongoing research by Skomal and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy is shared with the public to make the environment safer for both people and sharks.

File photo. A Great White Shark off the US coast. Photo: AFP / Joseph Prezioso

A multi-agency rescue operation has been launched after passengers aboard a recreational fishing vessel reported seeing a person being dragged into the water by a great white shark, after getting caught in a fishing line and falling overboard.

Just after 1:30pm on Sunday, emergency services were contacted by the boat that was involved in a fishing competition 55km off the coast of Newcastle.

NSW Ambulance confirmed marine rescue received a call via marine radio that someone had fallen overboard and that a shark was involved.

NSW Police said the incident took place at about 1pm.

Two rescue helicopters were deployed to the vessel, along with crews from Water Police and Marine Rescue NSW.

Twenty private boats were also involved in the search effort, which was expected to continue until the last light on Sunday and into Monday.

The person had not been found just before 7pm on Sunday.

Authorities were unable to provide further details of the missing person.