School chaplain killed in shark attack on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

A 40-year-old man has died after being attacked by a shark on the edge of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, local police said.

Luke Walford, a youth pastor, had been spearfishing with his family when he was bitten on Saturday afternoon.

He sustained “life-threatening injuries” and despite paramedics’ efforts, he died at the scene about an hour later, authorities said.

He and his family had been in the water at Humpy Island, in the Great Barrier Reef’s Keppel Bay Islands National Park, when the attack happened. The area is a popular spot for diving and snorkelling.

Walford had been a school chaplain and pastor at the Cathedral of Praise church in Rockhampton, Queensland.

Donna Kirkland, his local MP, said she was in shock, and that Walford was a friend to her and “countless others.”

“My prayers and heartfelt condolences are with his beautiful family and indeed the many who will be devastated, as I am, at this news”, she added.

A family friend told ABC News he had watched the rescue helicopter fly over his house, unaware it was for his friend.

“I always say a little tribute for whoever it may be, but to find out it was Luke was a very sad day,” Doug Webber said.

Queensland police said a report would be prepared for the coroner.

Australia’s last fatal shark attack happened in December 2023, when a teenage boy was killed in the south.

Just this year, there have been four other shark incidents in Australia, according to a local database.

In general, Australia sees more shark attacks than any other country except the US.