IN the second attack of its kind within two months, a 16-year-old boy died after he was savaged by a shark while surfing at Port St Johns at the weekend.

The attack has prompted calls to speed up investigations into alternative methods of safeguarding surfers and swimmers at the Transkei resort.

Locals have also attributed the latest attacks to the recent increase in surfers in the area.

Luyolo Mangele was in the water at Second Beach with four friends and their instructor during a surfing exercise on Friday afternoon.

Mangele separated from the group and was further out to sea when the shark struck.

After being bitten on his buttocks and left thigh, he managed to paddle to the shore and was pulled out of the water by his instructor and a lifesaver.

They tried to stabilise the bleeding and rushed him to hospital, were he later died.

The attack follows a similar one on January 24, when Sikhanyiso Bangilizwe, 25, was savaged to death by a giant Zambezi shark while swimming with his colleagues at the same beach.

Lifesaver Gerald Mtakathi confirmed the latest incident and said Mangele‘s wounds had been severe.

“The injuries were terrible. These attacks are becoming common in the area – it must be because there is too much activity in the water.”

Mangele‘s distraught brother Luyanda, 21, said he had been swimming on the other side of the beach when the incident occurred.

“When I came around to join them I was told he had been attacked and had been rushed to hospital. The sea was not rough I don‘t understand what brought the shark in the area.

“The whole family is sad. My brother was an avid surfer whose life revolved around swimming.”

Wild Coast Guards managing director Khaya Mjo expressed shock at the attacks, which are becoming increasingly common in the area.

Mjo said the latest incident brought to four the number of people who had been attacked in the area.

He said sharks fed on turtles and had poor eyesight. “It might be that sharks mistake surfers for turtles, especially if you are paddling.”

About 300 metres from the shore there is an area known as Shark Point.

Mjo, who served as a lifesaver at Port St Johns for some years, said: “I have never seen such gruesome attacks.”

He said there had been a surge in the number of surfers and this could be attracting the sharks.

The attacks have forced the Wild Coast Guards, the local municipality and the department of transport‘s maritime division to investigate alternatives for securing the beach.

The possibility had been mooted that shark nets could be erected. However, the KwaZulu Natal Sharks Board was not empowered to operate in the Eastern Cape.

There were other negatives to the shark net proposal. Mjo said the rough seas could easily damage the nets.

There was also a proposal for using electrodes to repel sharks, but environmentalist would “shoot it down” as this would also affect other species.