A Dunedin shark attack survivor is frustrated at the time it is taking to find relatives of the three men killed by sharks in Dunedin in the 1960s.
Barry Watkins was attacked by a great white shark while surfing at St Clair Beach in 1971.
It was the last in a sequence of five attacks in the 1960s and early 1970s, which led to Dunedin becoming the only New Zealand city to install shark nets.
Last week, Dunedin City councillors voted to abandon the shark-net programme amid environmental concerns.The nets had not caught any dangerous sharks in 40 years.
To mark the 40th anniversary of his attack, Mr Watkins has offered to give a black marble plaque to be placed on the Esplanade in St Clair in memory of the three men. Les Jordan died at St Clair on February 5, 1964, Bill Black at St Kilda on March 9, 1967, and Graham Hitt at Aramoana on September 15, 1968.
Surfer Gary Barton was also attacked, in 1969, at St Clair.
"What happened in Dunedin during those years is ... something that's never happened anywhere else in the world. We should be commemorating those people," Mr Watkins said from Levin. "[The delay] is frustrating, because you wouldn't think it would be that hard to find the relatives."
At a recent council community development committee meeting, Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull said he would contact families of the victims before making a decision on the plaque.
"I have one name to contact," Mr Cull said, when contacted this week.
"[I] would have done it last week, but annual plan swamped the days. Will do so this week."
Mr Watkins said he had commissioned the plaque and was just awaiting a council decision.
"The plaque is nearly finished now. Whether it sits on the Esplanade, or in my garden, remains to be seen."
