A 24-year-old commercial diver has died after being mauled by a shark – believed to be a great white – off the coast of New Zealand’s Chatham Islands.
The victim, who has been named as Jade Kahukore-Dixon, was diving from a boat on the morning of Tuesday, 19 November, when he was attacked.
Mr Kahukore-Dixon, who lived on the Chatham Islands – which are approximately 850km (528mi) east of Christchurch, on New Zealand’s South Island – was rushed to the main port of Waitangi and then by ambulance to the local hospital but tragically, medics were unable to save him.
‘Emergency services were called around midday, following reports the man – who had been diving off a boat – had been critically injured,’ said a spokesperson for the local police department. ‘He was rushed to Chatham Island Hospital, but has since died.’
Chatham Islands Mayor Monique Croon said she knew Kahukore-Dixon personally, and that his death had left the island community – which numbers around 800 people – in shock.
‘He’s a local boy. He’s well-known, well-liked and this will be pretty devastating for our commercial divers,’ said Croon. ‘It’s the biggest risk – the biggest fear. The community will be in total shock.’
While the species shark involved has not been formally identified, Mr Kahukore-Dixon’s grandmother wrote in a Facebook post that he had ‘been killed by a great white shark’, which are known to inhabit the area.
Shark attacks of any kind are, globally, very rare. According to the latest Global Shark Attack File, 145 incidents have been recorded since 1852, 25 of which were fatal; the last previously recorded being the death of a 19-year-old woman swimming off Waihī Beach, on the North Island’s Bay of Plenty.
A scuba diver was reportedly rammed by a great white in July 2019 while diving off the Chatham Islands, but escaped without injury.
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