"I Think They're Rattled. That's The Easy Way To Say It." Local surfers come to terms with Tuncurry’s fatal white shark attack. Scene of the tragedy on a happier day. Sean Doherty Link copied to clipboard Josh Kirkman has lived and surfed in Tuncurry most of his life, but he’s never experienced the town the way it’s been this week. On Tuesday morning, May 18, a surfer was attacked and killed by what’s estimated to be a four and a half metre white shark, close to shore on Tuncurry Beach, just down from the break-wall. Having grown up in neighbouring Forster, my phone lit up soon after. So did Josh’s. “That’s the thing that goes through your mind when you hear about a shark attack at 11am. on a Tuesday,” he says. “That it’s one of your mates. It has to be.”