Shark attack ‘cut surfer in half’

A SHARK bit the legs off a bodyboarder at a popular surfing spot in western Australia yesterday, killing the man, police said.

Authories were reportedly searching for the shark as well as the man’s missing limbs.

The man, in his early 20s, was bodyboarding with five friends when the shark attacked, a police spokesman said.

He died at the scene in the surfing haven known as The Farm, off Bunker Bay near the western town of Dunsborough.

The beach was closed after the attack.

Dunsborough Police Sergeant, Craig Anderson, said the Wilyabrup man was dead before he was pulled from the water by a friend and another member of the group he was bodysurfing with.

“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,” said Sgt Anderson.

About 30 surfers were in the water when the shark attacked, according to beachside cafe employee Deb Pickett who called police and an ambulance after hearing the disturbance.

“We had some sharks spotted far out at sea a few months ago, but they never come this close to the shore,” Pickett said.

One witness, who did not want to be named, said: “They pulled him out of the water and there was a lot of blood on the beach. There was just no hope, he was cut in half.

Local official Ian Stubbs says it was the first shark attack in the area for more than 20 years.