Tamayo Perry, a “legendary waterman” who notched acting credits in The Pirates of the Caribbean and Hawaii Five-0, was fatally mauled by a shark while surfing in Hawaii on Sunday afternoon—marking the first known instance in which a professional surfer was killed in a shark attack.
The body of Perry, 49, was discovered off Oahu’s Mālaekahana Beach by local surfers who noted he had an arm and a leg missing, Stab magazine reported.
Perry, a professional surfer and longtime lifeguard, reportedly frequented the area, with Stab writing he’d been among the North Shore’s most famous and beloved surfers.
Stab reported that Perry’s death-by-shark was a tragic first among professional surfers, with the previously closest call coming in 2003 when Bethany Hamilton famously lost her arm to a tiger shark in Kauai.
It’s unclear what shark species claimed Perry’s life, but only three are responsible for a double-digit number of fatal, unprovoked attacks on humans: the great white, tiger, and bull.
Perry appeared in the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film, released in 2011, with IMDB listing him as playing a “buccaneer.” He also acted in a 2011 episode of Hawaii Five-0 in which he played a character named “Spike,” and appeared in Blue Crush in 2002. His partner, Emilia Perry, shared photos of him acting in a birthday post in April.
Perry was named as the “most likely to get the barrel of the year” by Surfing magazine in 2002, according to the Encyclopedia of Surfing. The magazine wrote he was known across Oahu as the young surfer who always needed to borrow boards because he hadn’t scored a surfing sponsorship yet.
More recently, Perry was profiled last year in an advertisement by Billabong in which he spoke about catching one of his more memorable waves, which was captured on video. He also frequently posted surfing photos to Instagram, where he spoke frequently of his love of surfing, photography, his wife, and his faith.
Honolulu Ocean Safety Acting Chief Kurt Lager said in a statement that Perry was “a lifeguard loved by all.” Scores of other tributes for Perry flooded online by Monday morning.
“I won’t get over this until I see you in heaven,” wrote a tribute from the nonprofit Never Off Duty. “You protected and looked out for me at Pipe for no reason since 99. I was so stoked you and Emilia found each other, I just can not process this! Tamayo Perry you weren’t my friend you were my big brother, the pain were collectively feeling is immense.”
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