Two huge great white sharks launch horror coordinated attack to eat surfer
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Brad Smith, 29, was surfing at Left Handers Beach near Gracetown, Australia, when two sharks believed to be great whites ambushed him in a coordinated attack witnessed by horrified friends
Great white shark attacks remain - mercifully - exceptionally uncommon.
Like the majority of shark species, great whites typically steer clear of humans as they possess sufficient intelligence to distinguish them from prey and potentially because they recognise that such encounters often result in greater harm to themselves than benefit.
That said, whilst it's not confirmed with certainty which species attacked and killed surfer Brad Smith, all evidence suggests great white sharks.
The 29-year-old was surfing with companions at Left Handers Beach near Gracetown, a town 250km from Perth, Australia.
Eye-witness accounts describe a sudden and violent disturbance around Smith, before an enormous shark "the size of a car" was observed emerging from the water and crashing directly into the board, breaking it in half.
Smith reportedly battled the shark off momentarily, but to those watching they witnessed with horror another shark was then spotted circling the area, reports the Mirror.
"It was almost as if they had ambushed him," one witness stated.
Journalists at the time interviewed several eye-witnesses, all of whom appeared to reference the creatures' remarkable size.
"When the first one came up a bit I could see its fin and it was almost a yard high," said 17-year-old surfer Cameron Rowe.
"When it came out of the water with Brad still fighting it, I could see its body was about the width of a car and its open jaws were as wide as a man's arm."
Brad is described as having launched a series of frantic punches, as the two sharks attacked him repeatedly.
"You could see Brad trying to whack at them to keep them away," a friend Mitch Campbell told a reporter, "We were shouting out, 'Swim for your life, mate! Swim for your life!' But he obviously didn't have a chance. They were massive."
After approximately 45 seconds, he vanished beneath the surface and the sea turned crimson.
Moments later his body floated back up.
Despite the danger, Smith's friends courageously paddled out and pulled him back to shore.
An anaesthetist who had been surfing nearby examined him and said his injuries were unsurvivable, adding that his death would have been swift.
Police would later retrieve Smith's surfboard, bitten clean through by razor-sharp teeth.
Fisheries officers launched a major search by boat and helicopter but the sharks were never found.
