Surfer Tamayo Perry dies in apparent shark attack off the coast of Oahu

Tamayo Perry, a surfer, lifeguard and actor, died Sunday after he was attacked by a shark while surfing in Hawaii, according to The Associated Press.

Perry, who was surfing off the island of Oahu, died near Goat Island, according to the Honolulu Emergency Services Department, Hawaii News Now reported.

Honolulu Ocean Safety and the city’s fire, police and emergency medical services departments responded to Mālaekahana Beach on Oahu’s North Shore just before 1 p.m. after a caller reported seeing a man who appeared to have suffered shark bites, officials said.

Lifeguards brought Perry to shore by jet ski.

In addition to surfing and his work as a professional lifeguard, Perry had acting roles in “Pirates of the Caribbean, “Blue Crush” and “Hawaii Five-0,” according to IMDb.

Honolulu Ocean Safety Acting Chief Kurt Lager said Perry was “a lifeguard loved by all.”

“He’s well known on the North Shore. He’s a professional surfer known worldwide,” Lager said at a news conference. “Tamayo’s personality was infectious and as much as people loved him, he loved everyone else more.”

“Tamayo was a legendary waterman and highly respected,” Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said, calling Perry’s death “a tragic loss.”

According to The Encyclopedia of Surfing, Perry “competed selectively, and with modest success, finishing fourth in the 2000 Pipeline Masters Trials and fifth in the Billabong Pro Trials at Teahupoo. Nonetheless, by 2005 he was generally regarded as Pipeline’s single most dominant surfer.

“Perry has appeared in more than a dozen surf videos, including The Bomb (1998), Revelation (2000), All Aboard (2002), and Loaded Pipe (2004). Emila Perry, Tamayo’s Australian-born wife, is a professional bodyboarder.

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