The search for a 40-year-old man who went missing following a shark attack in a Hadera area beach has concluded after his remains were recovered by search and recovery teams, the Fire and Rescue Authority announced.
The victim was identified as Barak Tzach, a resident of Petah Tikva and a married father of four.
His wife, Sarit, posted the confirmation of her husband’s death on Facebook.
“With deep sorrow and wordless pain, we announce the death of our husband and father. I would like to put an end to the rumors that are being spread around the circumstances of his death and tell the truth,” she wrote on Wednesday, addressing rumors surrounding her husband’s untimely death.
“On the day of his death, Barak arrived at the beach after a day of work, as he often did. He entered the sea equipped with a snorkel, mask, fins, and a GoPro camera – without anything else, and certainly not with fish or bait, contrary to rumors.
She said Tzach entered the water to dive and document sharks, not to feed them or play with them.
“In a conversation I had with a fisherman who witnessed the incident, I was told that he swam alongside a shark and later moved slightly away in a more open direction,” she wrote. “He filmed the sharks from a distance but didn’t touch or feed them. When they started to get too close to him, he used the GoPro’s stick to gently push them away.
“The fisherman called him back to shore, and Barak started swimming slowly toward him – and then he was attacked.”
Witnesses at the beach said they saw blood in the water and someone screaming for help.
Tzach could not be located immediately after the attack, raising alarm bells and an extensive multi-agency search.Agencies involved in the search mission on Monday included the Israel Police, the IDF, ZAKA, MDA, the Nature and Parks Authority, fire services, diving authorities, volunteer efforts, and other emergency response teams.
Shark attack in Hadera
Police officers in Hadera’s Coastal District resumed their search early Tuesday, with the assistance of other agencies. The search came to a close after Lehava Unit divers found Tzach’s remains.
On Tuesday afternoon, beachgoers in Bat Yam reported seeing sharks in shallow waters approaching swimmers, the media reported.
According to the Nature and Parks Authority, the attack occurred in an area where swimming is prohibited.
Beachgoers have been urged against entering waters in the area, and multiple beaches between Hadera and Poleg Beach in Netanya have been closed, police said.
Sharks, which are found in the area every winter, “have apparently reached the Caesarea and Hadera areas following a fish mortality event at the mouth of the Alexander River,” said Itamar Avishay, the scientific director of the Israeli nonprofit organization EcoOcean.
Several sharks were also seen close to the river during Passover.
“It is important to note that shark attacks are rare, even on a global scale. Sharks are not [naturally] aggressive toward humans; there is really no reason to be afraid of them, but it is important to remember that this is a wild animal in its natural environment. Provoking a shark may cause it to defend itself,” Avishay said.
Doron Elmashli, commander of the Lehava Unit, told the media that he was not aware of any signs prohibiting entry into the water, despite common knowledge that the nearby coastline was “infested with sharks.”
He also urged visitors not to approach sharks in the water, especially when this was for picture-taking purposes.“The shark is a fighting machine; it is very difficult to predict its reactions.”
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.