ACTIVITY: Surfing
CASE: GSAF 1978.01.17 / SA-268
DATE: Tuesday January 17, 1978
LOCATION: The incident took place in the Indian Ocean at
Glenashley, a suburb of Durban, just 13 kilometres north of the
Durban harbor entrance on the coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
The beach did not have shark nets. The closest net installations
were at Umhlanga, four kilometres to the north, and slightly more
than five kilometres to the south.
29°45,5'S, 31°04'E
NAME: Laurence Evans
DESCRIPTION: The surfer, a 17-year-old male, was 1,78 metres
tall and weighed 78 kilograms. Tanned and clad in light-brown
Laurence Evans
baggies, he wore no jewelry and had no injuries before entering the
sea. However, he had a surfboard leash with a dirty-white sock tied
around his left ankle.
SURFBOARD: The surfboard had a single fin and the underside was orange-colored.
BACKGROUND
WEATHER: The sky was partly cloudy and there were fresh to strong southwesterly breezes.
It was hot; by 10h00 the temperature was 27,8°C, humidity was 73% and the barometric
pressure was 1006,7.
MOON PHASE: Waxing Gibbous with 63% of the Moon's visible disk was illuminated. First
Quarter, January 16, 1978 at 05:03 (Universal Time + 2h).
SEA CONDITIONS: The Umgeni River, six kilometres to the south of the attack site, was in
flood; the sea was turbid and discolored. An echo trace of the attack site revealed no
thermoclines or channels were present. Sea temperature was 23,8°C. Surface salinity was
32,54o/oo, variation to 32,40o/oo. High tide was at 11h29.
ENVIRONMENT: No one was fishing in the vicinity of the incident. No dolphins were
observed and no unusual fish or bird activity was noted. Three nets were set at Glenashley
by the Natal Sharks Board after this incident and the following sharks were caught:
Date
Sex/Species
Length (cms) Mass (kgs)
19/1/78
female/blacktip
131
39
20/1/78
female/blacktip
146
49
21/1/78
female/Zambesi
148
71
21/1/78
female/blacktip
165
67.5
© Global Shark Accident File, 1990. All rights reserved. This report may not be abridged or
reproduced in any form without written permission of the Global Shark Accident File.
22/1/78
female/Zambesi
22/1/78
female/blacktip
22/1/78
female/dusky
DISTANCE FROM SHORE: 100 metres
DEPTH: Three metres
TIME: 12h45
199
118
76
149 (pregnant/6 pups)
29.5
6.5
NARRATIVE: Laurence Evans and a companion, Hennie Wilken, were the only people in
the water at the time of the incident. Evans was facing shoreward. “This wave came up and
we both started paddling for it”, said Evans, “when the shark must have come up behind me
and grabbed my left foot. It happened so quickly...I just pulled my foot free and looked back.
I just had time to see his head disappear underwater...I shouted to Hennie that there was a
shark and we both started paddling like crazy for the beach. We both managed to get on a
foamy (broken wave) which took us nearly to the
beach. There was a fisherman there who carried
me to my home.”
INJURY: The surfer’s left ankle and foot were
bitten by the shark; two bones were broken and
there were minor lacerations of the ankle and foot.
A tendon was severed and Evans was unable to
flex two toes.
DAMAGE TO EQUIPMENT: The surfboard was
not damaged.
FIRST AID: The surfer's mother, Corinne Evans,
cleansed the wound and took him to Addington
Hospital in the family car.
TREATMENT:
Evans remained at Addington
Hospital for 14 days.
SPECIES INVOLVED: The incident was believed to involve a carcharhinid shark with a jaw
width of 25 centimetres. Natal Sharks Board researchers believed that a blacktip shark,
Carcharhinus limbatus, or a narrow-toothed requiem shark was involved
COMMENT: The initial bite was made on the sock/leash tied around the surfer's left ankle,
which suggests that the shark may have been simply curious about the object and was not
displaying aggression toward the surfer.
CASE INVESTIGATORS: Walter Pople, Graeme Charter, Beulah Davis, Natal Sharks
Board; Marie Levine
© Global Shark Accident File, 1990. All rights reserved. This report may not be abridged or
reproduced in any form without written permission of the Global Shark Accident File..
Laurence Evans
© Global Shark Accident File, 1990. All rights reserved. This report may not be abridged or
reproduced in any form without written permission of the Global Shark Accident File..