Paddle Out Memorial For Koel Bay’s Shark Attack Victim

The spirit was very much alive on Saturday when hundreds of body boarders, surfers, friends and family paddled out into the ocean in memory of Koel Bay’s shark attack victim, David Lilienfeld.

Lilienfeld tragically died on Thursday afternoon whilst body boarding in Koel Bay with his brother.  Eye witnesses described the attack as extremely aggressive, as the 3-4 meter great white came back three times before eventually biting his leg off.

We believe that his death may be the turning point in a long running debate with regards to the link between chumming and shark attacks.  Chumming is the technique used to lure sharks by throwing chum into the water for industries such as shark cage diving.  It is said that over the past few years, sharks have begun to associate human activity with food, and that may be the reason why there has been an increase in shark attacks over the past few years.  A permit was issued to US-based documentary maker Chris Fischer to film great white sharks in the Cape, allowing him and his team to use 5 tons of chum into the water on Monday (The attack happened on Thursday).  The permit was cancelled with immediate effect shorty after the attack took place.

We’re not too sure who to blame here – Chris Fischer and his team? The people who issued the permit? The body boarder? Or the shark?  Seems as if it was bad timing, for everyone involved.

Nevertheless, a life was tragically taken that day.  Spirits were high for his paddle out memorial where hundreds of surfers and body boarders paddled out, created a big circle, cheered his name and flew flowers into the ocean.

Please check out the video above using the Youtube link and let us know what you think of this whole situation.

RIP David