A bodyboarder was “cut in half” in a vicious shark attack in Australia on Sunday, and experts fear it could have been the work of a great white.
The 21-year-old was one of more than two dozen surfers enjoying the waves at the Boneyards, a popular surfing location near Bunker Bay along Australia’s western coastline.
No one saw the attack, which took place around 1 p.m, but were alerted when the ocean suddenly turned red.
“Out of nowhere it would appear the young fellow has been taken by a shark, nobody actually saw the shark itself, but they retrieved the young man’s body in the water amongst some blood,” Dunsborough Police officer-in-charge Sergeant Craig Anderson told the PerthNow.
The man, whose name has not been released, was dead before his body was pulled to the beach.
“You’ve got to take your hat off to the young fellow who was surfing with him and his mate for bringing [the remains] ashore,” Anderson said. “The nature of his injuries was significant, it’s not something that even volunteer rescuers or emergency services like to see, even my own staff.”
One witness told PerthNow that “there was just no hope, he was cut in half.”
The beach was closed immediately after the attack, officials said. Search parties have scoured the water for the killer creature, but have had no success.
“We had some sharks spotted far out at sea a few months ago, but they never come this close to the shore,” a local beachside cafe employee, Deb Pickett, told The Associated Press.
Searchers were also looking for remains of the victim, which could be floating off the coast.
With News Wire Services
msheridan@nydailynews.com; or follow him at Twitter.com/NYDNSheridan
