Tamayo Perry, actor and legendary surfer, killed in shark attack

“As tragic as his death may be,” said a message posted Monday on the Instagram account of a surfing instruction business Perry ran with his wife, “he left this world doing what he loved, where he loved it.”

At a news conference Sunday at Malaekahana Beach on Oahu, a spokeswoman for the Honolulu Emergency Services Agency said emergency responders received a 911 call shortly before 1 p.m. that a surfer had been fatally injured in a shark attack. Perry was brought to shore by rescuers via jet ski, spokeswoman Shayne Enright told reporters before he was officially pronounced dead. Enright said her agency had no further information at this time, and she and other officials would not take questions at the news conference.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi called Perry a “legendary and highly respected fisherman” and said at the press conference: “To get a call like that on a Sunday afternoon is really hard to imagine.”

On Monday, Blangiardi praised Perry, a lifeguard for the City and County of Honolulu, in a Facebook post for “being a model of bravery, dedication and a deep sense of duty, serving our community with unwavering devotion.”

“His heroic actions and tireless dedication to the safety of our residents and visitors,” Blangiardi wrote, “will never be forgotten.”

Perry grew up near the famous North Shore surf spot Pipeline and became a well-known figure in the area where even the surfers’ elite are put to the test. According to Surfline, he won the Pipeline Masters Trials in 1999 and was often seen tackling the massive waves at Teahupo’o, Tahiti.

In a self-written biography posted on his surfing instruction company’s website, Perry wrote, “I have been surfing professionally for over 15 years and get paid to surf the deadliest wave in the world (Pipeline).”

He added that his work on screen included roles in national advertising campaigns as well as the surfing film “Blue Crush.”

While shark encounters are not uncommon in Hawaii, deaths from water sports-related incidents are rare. Perry’s death was the first this year to occur while surfing and other activities such as swimming, paddleboarding and scuba diving, according to a state government tally. The previous such death occurred on Dec. 30 and involved a surfer on the north shore of the island of Maui, according to the Hawaiian government. Before that, there was a shark-related incident in 2022 that killed a snorkeler elsewhere on Maui. There were seven recorded incidents in 2021 where people sustained injuries in shark encounters, but there were no deaths this year.

In December 2020, a shark attack that left a surfer dead led to the postponement of a World Surf League event on Maui. On Monday, the WSL said of Perry that it was “deeply saddened to share that the surfing community has lost a beloved icon.”

“Tamayo was a Pipeline/Teahupo’o specialist, freesurfer, former competitor and a member of the WSL for many years,” said the governing body of professional surfing. “He became a lifeguard for the city and was an important part of the North Shore community. Our condolences go out to Tamayo’s family and friends.”