Shark kills bodyboarder at Bunker Bay

September 6, 2011 | Bodyboarding
Bunker Bay: we lost another friend

A bodyboarder has lost his life in a shark attack at Boneyards break, Bunker Bay, Western Australia. Kyle Burden was a passionate rider and an ocean lover.

"Whenever we would talk and I would ask him how he was doing he would say 'Living the dream mum, living the dream'", said his mother Sharon Burden. Kyle had moved from Sydney to WA's Margaret River region in order to live the surfing lifestyle.

The shark bit a large part of his lower body and Kyle couldn't resist the severe wounds. A fellow surfer brought his body to shore. The beach was closed and re-opened a few hours later.

Flowers have been laid by a surfboard set up in the sand at Bunker Bay. The authorities believe it was a 4.5m white pointer, a bronze whaler or a tiger shark.

The 21-year-old bodyboarder is the second victim of a shark attack in the region, in the past 12 months. Last year, 31-year-old Nicholas Edwards passed away in Gracetown.

When the Boneyards shark attacked there were 30 surfers in the water riding waves. It was the first shark attack in the area for more than 20 years.