Surfers return to the water a week after northern beaches shark attack

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Surfers have returned to the water to honour shark attack victim Mercury Psillakis a week after his death at a popular Sydney beach.

Psillakis, 57, was killed when he was taken by a shark, believed to be an adolescent great white, about 10am on September 6. His board was cut in two, and he lost both his legs, police said.

Maria and Mercury Psillakis and daughter Freedom (centre).

Moments before he was attacked, he warned surfers in the water with him of its presence, calling on them to group together.

“Merc is deeply loved by everyone who knows him,” Psillakis’ family said in a statement last week.

“Merc was impossible not to love – his energy was extraordinary and magnetic, his spirit full of fun and he created joy and happiness in every interaction he touched.”

On Saturday, friends and family returned to Dee Why as extra surf lifesavers patrolled the northern beaches and drones surveilled the water from above.

“There’s fear, but we’ve got to lean into fear,” former professional surfer and Psillakis’ friend Toby Martin told Nine News.

“We’re a hurting community, obviously. To confront what’s been presented to us in a place that we love going [to] every day, that’s what he would want, that’s what we want for our community.”

Tributes have poured in for Psillakis, a well-known member of the northern beaches surfing community, in the week since his death, including from surfing legend Kelly Slater.

“Been in shock for the past week about Mercury and another tragic shark incident,” Slater wrote on Instagram.

Surfers returned to Dee Why beach a week after Mercury Psillakis’ death.

“My condolences to the huge group of friends who have grown up with him and are mourning his passing.”

Days after Psillakis’ death, the NSW state government scrapped a planned trial to remove shark nets at three beaches across the state.

“In light of the tragedy that has occurred at Dee Why on the weekend, we need to be sensible about what the community would accept at this time,” Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said on Tuesday.

“We need to allow time for the Department [of Primary Industries] and our government scientists to collect information on what happened and then provide a report to government that will inform future considerations for the shark management program.”

The government had initially indicated it would wait for the release of a DPI report into the Dee Why incident before deciding on the trial, but it has now opted not to wait, instead committing to keeping all 51 shark nets in place along the NSW coast.

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