Mauled surfer Mercury Psillakis’ heroic final act before he was killed by a five-metre shark at Dee Why – and the grim scene that confronted rescuers

A shark killed surfer Mercury Psillakis at Dee Why

He had spent his last moments warning others

A surfer mauled to death by a great white shark spent his final moments warning his friends about the beast and trying to group them together for safety.

Mercury ‘Merc’ Psillakis, 57, was bitten in half by a five-metre shark at Dee Why, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, just after 10am on Saturday.

Mr Psillakis’ close friend Toby Martin, a former pro surfer, rushed to the beach shortly after the attack alongside Mr Psillakis’ wife, Maria.

‘He was at the back of the pack still trying to get everyone together when the shark just lined him up,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.

‘It came straight from behind and breached and dropped straight on him. It’s the worst-case scenario.

‘They normally come from the side, but this one came straight from behind, breached and dropped on him. It was so quick.’

Mr Psillakis’ surfboard was cut in half by the attack, and the surfer lost both his legs.

Fellow surfers salvaged his mutilated torso and dragged him 100m to shore.

Mercury ‘Merc’ Psillakis (pictured with wife Maria) was tragically killed in a shark attack at Dee Why Beach on Saturday

Horrified witnesses described the 57-year-old father being bitten in half by a five-metre shark

Mr Psillakis leaves behind his wife and a young daughter.

Eyewitness Mark Morgenthal described the shark as ‘huge’.

‘There was a guy screaming, “I don’t want to get bitten, I don’t want to get bitten, don’t bite me”,’ he told Sky News.

‘Then I saw the tail fin come up and start kicking, and the distance between the dorsal fin and the tail fin looked to be about four metres, so it actually looked like a six-metre shark.’

Horrified onlookers watched as the surfers brought Mr Psillakis’ mangled remains to shore, doing their best to block the brutal scene with their boards.

Police and lifeguards ran along the stretch of beach between Dee Why and nearby Long Reef to alert those in the water of the danger.

Mr Psillakis’ twin brother, Mike, had been attending a junior surf competition at Long Reef and watched Mr Psillakis swim out earlier that morning.

Superintendent John Duncan praised the brave surfers who attempted to save Mr Psillakis by bringing his remains ashore, but noted nothing could have saved him.

Horrified onlookers watched as the surfers brought Mr Psillakis’ mangled remains to shore, doing their best to block the brutal scene with their boards

‘He suffered catastrophic injuries,’ Supt Duncan said.

Great white sharks are more active along Australia’s east coast at this time of year due to whale migration.

While the species of shark in Saturday’s attack hasn’t been identified, its swift and precise nature had the hallmarks of a great white.

NSW Premier Chris Minns described Mr Psillakis’ death as an ‘awful tragedy’.

‘Shark attacks are rare, but they leave a huge mark on everyone involved, particularly the close-knit surfing community,’ he said.

Saturday’s attack was the first fatal shark attack at Dee Why since 1934.

Shark nets were installed at 51 beaches between Newcastle and Wollongong at the start of September, as they are for each summer.

Superintendent John Duncan praised the brave surfers who attempted to save Mr Psillakis by bringing his remains ashore, but noted nothing could have saved him

Three councils, including Northern Beaches Council, had been asked to nominate a beach where nets could be removed as part of a trial, but no decision on the locations had been made.

A decision on proceeding will not be made until after the Department of Primary Industries reported back on Saturday’s fatal shark attack, the premier said.

The state’s shark management plan also involves the use of drones to patrol beaches and smart drumlines to provide real-time alerts about sharks nearby.

Long Reef Beach uses drumlines but does not have a shark net, while nearby Dee Why Beach is netted.

Two extra drumlines were deployed between Dee Why and Long Reef after the incident, while both beaches remained closed on Sunday.

Shark expert Daryl McPhee said attacks were rare in Australia and the number had remained stable across the decades.

He said removing nets at beaches was unlikely to see the number of interactions between people and sharks increase.

‘The available information demonstrates that large sharks are rarely present on surf beaches in Queensland and NSW,’ the Bond University associate professor told AAP.

Before Saturday’s attack, the last shark-related fatality in Sydney occurred in February 2022, when British diving instructor Simon Nellist was taken by a great white off Little Bay in the city’s east.