Wader Fatally Attacked by Bull Shark in Sydney Harbour

Marcia Hathaway, a professional actress on the cusp of a significant film role, was killed by a bull shark while wading in only 30 inches of water in Sydney Harbour — a sheltered inner-harbour setting — and the incident is exceptionally well-documented across multiple sourced works, with her fiancé Frederick Knight pulling her from the shark and swimming for help in a dramatic rescue attempt that ultimately could not save her.

On the afternoon of January 28, 1963, a tragic incident unfolded at Sugarloaf Bay in Middle Harbour, Sydney. A 32-year-old woman had arrived with her fiancé and friends aboard a cabin cruiser for a picnic. While wading in approximately 30 inches of water, just 20 feet from shore, she was suddenly bitten by a bull shark. She initially believed the first bite came from an octopus, but moments later the shark struck again, this time on her thigh with devastating force. The second bite proved catastrophic, severing the victim's right femoral artery and nearly amputating her leg. She sustained multiple severe wounds including a gaping laceration on the anterior thigh, a wound to the buttock, and lacerations on the right calf and left thigh. She also suffered defensive wounds on her left hand from the encounter. Her fiancé immediately pulled her from the water and carried her to their cruiser. He then swam to a nearby house to call for emergency assistance. An ambulance was dispatched to the nearest jetty, but the vehicle's clutch burned out while ascending a steep hill to reach the hospital. Despite the rapid response and heroic efforts by volunteers to help push the ambulance, a second vehicle arrived too late. She died en route to Mater Misericordiae Hospital in North Sydney from blood loss and shock. Tooth fragments recovered from the scene were identified as those of a whaler shark, with most researchers confirming the species as a bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas). This incident occurred during a period of heightened shark activity off Sydney's Northern Beaches, with authorities having sighted 66 sharks in the area and closed multiple beaches to swimmers in the preceding days.