Australia saw its first fatal shark attack in over two years last week.
Peter Edmonds aged 16 from Wollongbar in northern New South Wales, died just on April 8 2008 at Lighthouse Beach about 500 miles north of Sydney, after being bitten twice on the leg by what witnesses described as a ~big grey shadow .
Peter s friend Brock Curtis-Mathew who was body boarding with Peter at the time is to be nominated for a bravery award after swimming through the blood filled sea to rescue his friend, towing him 50 metres back to shore and trying to resuscitate him.
Brock called the emergency services but Peter died on the Ballina beach from massive blood loss.
It is not known what type of shark was responsible for the attack as the water was extremely murky after 24 hours of rain.
These conditions plus the early morning time makes shark attacks more likely, as sharks are unable to distinguish between humans and their prey.
Locals have reported seeing several Bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas in the area recently - a species considered to be the third most aggressive after Great white sharks Carcharodon carcharias and Tiger sharks Galeocerdo cuvier.
Regional lifeguard coordinator Steven Leahy is quoted in the ABC Australian news as saying that the nature of the victim s injuries indicates that the shark was large.
A scientist from the Australian Fisheries Department is travelling to the area to help police with their investigations.
Local MP Ian Cohen has been urging people not to use this as an excuse to attack sharks. He is quoted in ABC local news saying:
There is nothing more horrifying than a shark attack obviously, but we look at it and look at the figures and the frequency, I just hope that there is not a reaction to see that people would go out and start slaughtering sharks or support that...
"It happened when Steve Irwin got hit by the stingray - there was a spate of hunting rays.
"There are people who don't think in a broader way. If we vilify the shark as a creature as has happened for so many years, then there is not the pressure to acknowledge the need for conservation of these species."
Australia has one of the world's highest rates of shark attacks but few of them are fatal. The Shark Institute of Australia says sharks have killed 11 people off its shores in 50 years.
The last fatal attack was in Queensland in early 2006, when a 21-year-old woman was mauled by three Bull sharks, which ripped both her arms off before biting into her torso and legs.
There have been less than 50 fatal shark attacks worldwide in the last 10 years.