NSRI Knysna station commander Jerome Simonis said the closures were effective from Tuesday‚ and added that municipal authorities “will reportedly use a helicopter today‚ Wednesday‚ 28th December‚ to monitor the coastline before they decide on a further course of action”.
“NSRI urges the public to heed the municipal authorities’ decision which was made in the interests of public safety‚” he said.
“Media and the public are urged to follow official notifications regarding this situation posted by municipal authorities and cooperation is deeply appreciated.”
TMG Digital reported last Monday that a Pretoria man was knocked of his surf-ski by what was thought to be a four-metre great white shark.
The NSRI’s Plettenberg Bay duty crew received “a request for assistance from three paddlers… paddling behind the breaker line off-shore of Keurbooms Lagoon” just after 7am.
Station commander Marc Rodgers said that when they arrived at the scene‚ the three surf-skis were “rafted together with the three paddlers paddling… gently towards the shoreline”.
“One of the surf-skis was found to be damaged from a shark bite‚” he said‚ adding that all three were taken aboard the NSRI’s rescue craft‚ brought to shore without incident and required no further assistance.
Rodgers said that Ben Swart‚ 55‚ from Pretoria‚ told NSRI “that he and his two friends‚ Nick Bester and Ronald Pronk‚ regular paddlers on holiday in Plettenberg Bay‚ were paddling from Central Beach to Keurbooms on their three surf-skis about 400m off-shore‚ well behind the back-line”.
When asked if he would get back in the water‚ Swart replied: “There is no doubt I will be back … this is a freak incident .… I’ll certainly be back‚ probably tomorrow‚” he said‚ adding that he was getting a replacement paddle-ski. – TMG Digital
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