The teacher is believed to have been killed by a great white shark (stock image) (Image: MogensTrolle via Getty Images)
A beloved teacher died in a shark attack after selflessly alerting terrified children and bystanders to flee the water, moments before he vanished beneath the surface and was never seen again.
It was a bright Saturday morning in May when 46-year-old Simon Baccanello headed to Walkers Rock on the West Coast of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia for an early morning surf in 2023. The popular surfing spot was just a short distance from his adopted hometown of Elliston, where he had taken up a teaching post in maths, science and PE at a local school.
Simon had been fondly nicknamed “Mr B” by his pupils.
On Saturday, 13 May 2023, he was out in the water alongside fellow surfers and children when the apex predator was spotted swimming nearby.
Simon is reported to have shouted for everyone to get out of the ocean, yet was unable to reach the shore himself before the shark struck.
Eyewitnesses at the scene described spotting a 10-foot shark with a white underbelly circling in the water close by.
Shortly before 10am, the shark launched its attack on Simon from behind, dragging him beneath the waves and turning the water a deep crimson. Simon’s surfboard was reportedly “tombstoning” – a term used to describe a board protruding vertically from the water – throughout the harrowing ordeal.
Simon never resurfaced, and despite an extensive search mounted by emergency services, his body was never recovered.
Witness Jaiden Miller, 22 at the time, told Adelaide Now: “There was a bloke on the beach tooting his horn and as I turned around, I saw everyone paddling in.
“I saw his board tombstoning, which means he’s underwater and his board’s getting dragged under… trying to fight his way back up to the surface… he was gone.
“(We) saw the shark just thrashing around out the back. The shark obviously let go and come back and got him for a third time.”
Teacher Simon Baccanello told other surfers and swimmers to get out of the water before he was killed by a shark (Image: 9 News)
Simon’s concern for the younger surfers sharing the water with him most likely led him to hang back at the rear of the group, placing him furthest from the safety of the shore and directly in the path of the shark.
While the particular shark responsible for the attack has never been confirmed, it is widely thought to have been a great white.
These formidable creatures are crucial apex predators that play a key part in maintaining the health of our oceans. According to White Shark Ocean, they “play a vital role in keeping other animal populations in check”.
They achieve this by “preying on seals and sea lions” which helps “control their numbers, which, in turn, safeguards the equilibrium of fish populations”.
White Shark Ocean adds: “This delicate balance ensures the sustainability and health of the entire food web.”
Simon had been surfing at Walkers Rock on the West Coast of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. Pictured: the rugged, rocky coastline on the Eyre Peninsula (Image: Getty Images)
Regrettably for humans, venturing into the natural environment and habitat of another species carries significant danger. Numerous encounters between humans and sharks result from mistaken identity, with hungry sharks wrongly identifying a human as a seal, sea lion or another potential prey.
For Simon Baccanello, he was exceptionally unlucky on that tragic Saturday in 2023.
In conversation with 7NEWS, his younger sister Lydia Baccanello spoke about her brother’s lasting impact.
Regarding the school where he was employed at the time of his death, she said: “Simon was only there for really five months, and in that short period of time he made such a difference.
“We know that now after speaking to a lot of his students, speaking to the staff and the community at Elliston, just how really amazing he was.”
