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1985 South Australia Shark Attack That Killed Shirley Durdin Retold in Recent Coverage

Recent coverage revisits the case using History Hit and contemporaneous local reports without presenting new findings.

Overview

  • In March 1985, 33-year-old Shirley Ann Durdin was attacked by a Great White while diving for scallops at Wiseman’s Beach in Peake Bay.
  • Only a headless torso was recovered after the attack, and her husband and four young children watched from the shore.
  • Witnesses estimated the shark to be about 20 feet long as it tore her in two.
  • Local fishing and diving groups mounted a hunt, reporting a bitten-through net and spreading fish bait across the Bolingbroke area.
  • Fisheries, State Emergency Service and police searches failed to locate the shark, police noted no prior sightings in the area, and a memorial was held at Port Lincoln Uniting Church.