They fear that a teacher died after a shark attack in Australia

() — A school teacher allegedly died after being attacked by a shark while surfing on Saturday, according to authorities, who found fragments of a wetsuit and suspected remains of his surfboard.

The emergency services (SES, for its acronym in English) received notices of a shark attack on the beach of Walkers Rock, on the west coast of South Australia, this Saturday, according to the South Australian Police in a statement.

Authorities have not identified the man, but local affiliates named him as Simon Baccanello, a 46-year-old teacher at nearby Elliston Area School.

Police said in a statement Monday that they had recovered “two items of interest in connection with the search for a missing surfer, presumed dead after a shark attack.”

One of them appears to be a piece of wetsuit material, while the other item is believed to be small pieces of white Styrofoam possibly from the surfboard, police said, who are sending the items for analysis by forensics.

SES unit chief Trevlyn Smith previously told affiliate 9 News that the surfboard remains they recovered showed “a bite mark.”

After consulting with Baccanello’s family, emergency services said they would continue to search the area and surrounding beaches in the coming days, after high tide.

His family issued a statement calling his death a “tragic loss,” according to 9 News.

Baccanello began his tenure at Elliston Area School in January, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The school’s principal, Chad Fleming, told 9 News: “He had a real interest in making his students feel good and building those relationships with the students.”

The Pulteney Grammar School — where Baccanello taught in Adelaide between 2007 and 2009, and then in 2022 — also issued a statement on Facebook.

“He is well remembered by the school community as a good teacher, a generous friend and a genuine and authentic human being,” the statement said.

Shark attacks are relatively rare off the coast of South Australia: according to the Australian Shark Incident Databasethere were 20 shark encounters in 2022, resulting in 14 injuries and one death.

South Australia only provided one case that did not involve any injury.

In February this year, a 16-year-old girl was killed by a shark while swimming in a river in Perth, Western Australia.