Diver missing, feared dead, after rare shark attack off the coast of Hadera
‘They’re eating him,’ witnesses shout. ‘Nobody’s coming to save him’. Recent fish die-offs have attracted dusky and sandbar sharks to area, where swimming is prohibited
A diver was missing and feared dead on Monday evening, hours after he was attacked by at least one shark off the coast of Hadera, police and paramedics said. The incident took place near the Orot Rabin power station.
Authorities were conducting a search on the Hadera Stream beach, according to Magen David Adom emergency services. Police closed the beach until further notice.
The Hadera municipality’s Coastal Department said it was conducting searches by jet ski to locate the diver, and would update with further developments.
Footage uploaded to social media also showed helicopters scanning the waters for the missing man.
People on the beach filmed the incident on mobile phones. One man could be heard exclaiming, “Wow, wow, he’s with the shark, he’s fighting him,” as the man was seen in the distance. “They’re eating him, eating the man… Can’t see him.”
A beachgoer who called the emergency services told them, “There’s someone here that a shark has bitten. He’s screaming, ‘Help!’ He’s in the sea at Hadera. He’s drowning.” Then she added, “He’s in the sea. Nobody’s coming to save him.”
“Do you still see the man?” the operator asked. “Do you have eye contact with him.”
“No, she said. “I can’t see him.”
Another beachgoer said the man called out, “They’re biting me,” and waved his hands in the air.” Soon after that, she said, the sharks dragged him further out to sea.
Hebrew media reports indicated the incident was the first of its kind in Israel.
Ziv Demeter, of the Magnus search and rescue organization, told Channel 12 that a corpse in a diving suit floats to the water’s surface, allowing it to be located. “If he wasn’t in a [diving] suit, this is where the problem starts,” he said, cautioning that “the body could be swept away, and locating it could take hours or even days.”
The incident took place in an area of the beach where swimming was already prohibited.
Graphic video taken from the beach showed the attack:
דיווחים דרמטיים על צוללן שננשך ככה"נ על ידי כריש בחוף הים בחדרה. בנתיים הבחור לא נמצא. חיפושים כעת בחוף. ואווו pic.twitter.com/DfbABlFuj1
— שלמה ⛈️ מזג אוויר (@MezgAvirIL) April 21, 2025
Dusky and sandbar sharks, which frequent the area during the period between November and May, are not known to attack humans.
Over the past few days, fish die-offs in the Hadera Stream and the Alexander Stream nearby have attracted sharks to the shores of Hadera and Beit Yannai. The sharks eat dead, sick, and wounded fish as they enter the sea, helping keep natural waters clean.
“Every winter, a unique phenomenon occurs in Israel, in which sharks and rays gather at the outlet of the warm waters of the power stations,” the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel said in a statement.
“In the case of such a fascinating and public-attracting phenomenon, it would be appropriate to take conservation and safety measures for the public, but over the years, chaos has developed in the area,” it said.
The Society said that fishermen on the shore and sea, vessels, divers, surfers, snorkelers, and even people approaching the shallow waters from the shore threaten the sharks.
Police search for a diver who was reportedly attacked by a shark off the coast of Hadera, on April 21, 2025. (Israel Police)
The organization said it presented a professional review of the situation four years ago, which surveyed scientific knowledge and global and local experiences.
It recommended that the waters frequented by sharks be closed to fishing, as well as limiting motorized vessel access, and defining a safe viewing area that allows the sharks to move freely and humans to view them safely.
“This is a small site, less than one square kilometer (just under 250 acres), which can be controlled and managed relatively easily. However, to this end, the government must take responsibility for the issue. We hope that such a solution will be promoted, for the sake of both public safety and nature.”
Experts warn against interacting with sharks
Marine biologist Dr. Adi Barash, who heads Sharks in Israel and is a member of the IUCN Shark Experts Group, told the Ynet news site after the incident: “In addition to the fact that the conditions of the sea, including the depth and currents in the water, were not suitable for swimming, a large number of people came to the area, which created gatherings around the sharks — something that should not happen and could lead to attacks.”
Barash cited repeated cases where bathers have pulled the sharks’ tails and even entered the water with children in their arms, to “play” with the creatures.
דקות לפני התקיפה. בנאדם עומד ליד כריש באורך 2 מטר ולא יוצא מהמים אלא נשאר ואפילו מצלם. צוחק. "חחחח תראו הוא בא לילד"
אין לי מילים pic.twitter.com/YXKgHLr0mx
— David Oppenheim (@Duduoppe) April 21, 2025
She blamed a lack of enforcement for the fact that people could get so close to the sharks, noting the large amounts of dead fish available to sharks at this time of year, as a result of the warming of stream waters.
The Nature and Parks Authority on Monday said it “repeats its warning… against interacting with sharks. We again call on the public not to approach the sharks, which are protected animals.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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