Janine Lochrenberg was killed in a shark attack off Orient Beach in KuGompo City on Tuesday morning. The 65-year-old was swimming with her local open water club when fellow swimmers pulled her toward shore.
Witnesses said Lochrenberg was bitten in two places and died before she could be brought out of the water. The said it was the first recorded fatal shark attack in South Africa this year, and about 10 fatal ones have been recorded in South Africa since 2012 by the Florida Museum's International Shark Attack File.
Margot and Barbara Briceland
Margot told the she was holding her sister's head as they brought her in, but believed she bled out in the water. She described Lochrenberg as someone who "loved the water so much" and said, "She'd made peace with that. She had a deep affinity with the water and was a remarkable person". One of her fellow swimmers said Lochrenberg was bitten on her thigh and her upper arm.
Barbara Briceland said Lochrenberg was a good swimmer who often swam far out into the breakers. She also said Lochrenberg was "highly intelligent, lots of fun, kind, in a quietish way, thoughtful, well-loved with a love of life."
Orient Beach after the attack
One of the swimmers said Lochrenberg had been wearing a magnetic shark repellent band on her ankle at the time. That detail has no bearing on the outcome now, but it is part of what witnesses described after the attack. Janine Lochrenberg killed in Orient Beach shark attackOrient Beach and another nearby beach were closed after the incident, leaving the shoreline off limits while the immediate response settled. The species of shark was not identified in the facts provided.
