Tamayo Perry

Tamayo Perry was born in Hau'ula, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, in 1975. He grew up around the corner from the North Shore's famous and deadly Banzai Pipeline, where he would become a regular presence^[8][9] and would go on to ride some of his most prominent waves.^[10][11]

Perry began surfing at the age of 12, and by 17 had travelled to California to take part in surfing competitions.^[12] He would go on to spend 15 years as a professional surfer.^[13]

In 1999 he won the Pipeline Master trials, coming in fourth the next year.^[14] He also travelled regularly to Tahiti to surf, where he competed in several installments of the Billabong Pro Teahupo'o competition,^[15][16] and filmed some of his most notable sports films, including Islands in the Stream.^[17]

Outside competition he was known for his free-surfing and mastery of pipeline surfing, where he frequently appeared in surfing magazines and surf films.^[10]

Perry transitioned his on-camera experience in surfing films, notably with Walt Disney Studios as a surfing double in the film, as well as one of the title character's competitors, in the 1999 film Johnny Tsunami,^[18][19] and to wider audiences when he appeared in the 2002 film Blue Crush. In 2010, Tamayo Perry was one of six Hawaiian Queen Anne's Revenge crewmen cast by director Rob Marshall for the 2011 film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.^[20] He also appeared in the episode Kai eʻe of the TV series Hawaii Five-O.^[21]

On June 23, 2024, Perry was attacked by a shark near Goat Island, while surfing off Oahu's North Shore.^[13] During the attack, he sustained fatal injuries, losing an arm and a leg.^[14] Lifeguards brought his body to shore using jetskis and he was pronounced dead by paramedics responding to the scene. He was 49.^[21]