Man killed by great white shark while fishing in Australia
A 28-year-old man has been killed by a great white shark while fishing with friends off Australia's south coast.
The diver was spear fishing with a group of seven friends at Goldsmith Beach, near Edithburgh, on the Yorke Peninsula, west of Adelaide, at midday on Saturday when friends saw him dragged away by the shark.
South Australia Police Senior Constable Mick Abbott said authorities had been searching for him, but no trace of his body has been found.
He told the Sydney Morning Herald: 'It would have been traumatic and terrifying for his friends.
"He was spear fishing, so he wasn't wearing scuba gear, just a wet suit and snorkelling equipment."
The group had been preparing for the Yorke Pensinsula Classic, a spear fishing competition, which was to be held on Sunday.
According to the Daily Mail, locals said the great white had been in the area for about a week, after being attracted by an abundance of snapper fish.
The attack comes just as the Western Australian Government fights off criticism over its decision to introduce a shark cull programme in a supposed bid to protect swimmers.
The policy allows for great white, tiger and bull sharks larger than three metres to be killed.
The Federal government gave state authorities a special exemption from environmental laws to kill great white sharks, a protected species, in response to seven fatal shark attacks in Australia's southwest in three years.
But opponents say there is no evidence to suggest that killing sharks will reduce the threat to swimmers.
A number of protests have been held against the killing policy, including one on Manly beach (above) in Sydney at the beginning of February, and another at Cottesloe Beach in Perth (middle picture), where thousands descended to voice their concerns over the cull.
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