Fatal Shark Attack During Afternoon Wading at Botany Bay

This incident occurred at the same beach as a fatal attack just 12 days earlier, forming part of a documented cluster of shark activity at North Brighton, Botany Bay in early 1940 — a pattern also linked to prior attacks in the nearby Georges River — giving the case scientific and archival significance as part of a well-documented multi-incident series recorded in Coppleson's foundational shark-attack research.

On the afternoon of February 4, 1940, John William Eke, a 55-year-old accountant residing at the Salvation Army Hostel, entered the waters at North Brighton in Botany Bay, New South Wales. The day was clear with warm conditions—air temperature at 86°F and water temperature at 73°F—and Eke was wading approximately 40 feet from shore in waist-deep water. For sun protection, he wore a white shirt buttoned at the wrists over his bathing costume. Without warning, Eke was attacked by a shark of unidentified species. The animal inflicted severe bite wounds to both of his arms, with witnesses believing the shark may have bitten twice. Eke began swimming weakly toward shore while bleeding profusely. When someone shouted a warning, William Kennington and his 14-year-old son Wallace immediately ran into the water and pulled the injured man ashore. Eke was unconscious by the time he reached the beach. The Kenningtons applied tourniquets and attempted to control the hemorrhaging, but the injuries were catastrophic. Eke was transported to St. George Hospital where he died within hours of admission. Medical examination revealed that his left arm had been torn from his body at the shoulder. This attack occurred at nearly the same location where another fatal shark incident had occurred just weeks earlier, in January 1940. The incident remains part of the documented history of shark encounters along the New South Wales coast.