Friends are paying tribute to a 15-year-old surfer who was killed by a shark on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula. The body of Khai Cowley was recovered from the water at ethel beach yesterday about 300 kilometres from Adelaide.
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00:00 We're at the scene of a fatal shark attack that occurred here at Innes National Park
00:07 on the York Peninsula in South Australia.
00:10 Kai Cowley, a 15-year-old boy from Adelaide, was killed while he was surfing on this surf
00:15 break.
00:16 It's called Ethel's Ledge.
00:18 It's known as a really challenging surf break and only really experienced surfers do go
00:23 out to this break.
00:25 We've seen an influx of people visit the beach here today.
00:29 A few of Kai's friends have come down to pay tribute.
00:33 They've laid flowers.
00:34 I've spoken to them.
00:36 They were too visibly upset to speak on camera.
00:39 We've also heard tributes from Surfing South Australia, which described Kai as a dearly
00:44 loved member of the surfing community.
00:47 It's pretty hard to home when we've known so many close people that's actually happened
00:51 to like this year.
00:53 I don't know what to make of it.
00:56 I'm trying to figure out.
00:57 I was rattled last night.
00:58 I don't know.
00:59 It's kind of, it's too close to home really.
01:01 It wasn't personally affecting me, but it's just one of those things that you don't want
01:05 to go in the water now.
01:06 This morning, I've come down to pay my respects to the young lad.
01:10 If you can appreciate, he obviously, his love of surfing was such that he was out there
01:16 yesterday.
01:17 So it was pretty heavy stuff.
01:18 But yeah, it's not something you're going to get over in a hurry.
01:22 Like this will, as I say, there will be a drop in numbers going in the ocean.
01:27 It's just a fact of life.
01:28 I couldn't imagine what it would be like for the family.
01:31 It's just such a tragic story.
01:34 So yeah, really feel for the family, especially after Christmas.
01:38 It's terrible.
01:39 Kai's auntie has set up a GoFundMe page as well to help his family with funeral costs.
01:45 I've spoken to a few surfers who have said they will keep out of the water today, but
01:50 they don't want this to deter young people from enjoying surfing.
01:55 They say it's a very rare incident to have occurred here on the York Peninsula.
01:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]