A woman onlooked as her father was mauled to death by a shark. The pair were diving in Tasmania, off the coast of Australia when the tragic event occurred.
The father and daughter had been diving for scallops at the time. The woman in her 20s returned to the boat and became concerned when she realised her father in his late 40s had not yet resurfaced. The woman went back down into the water to check on her father. “She saw a very large shark; she saw her father being attacked by the shark.” according to Inspector David Wiss.
The woman set off a flare which alerted other boaters of the tragedy that was unfolding and called the emergency services. “They pulled up the [man] using the air hose that he was attached to, but unfortunately he was fatally injured,” Wiss told the Guardian.
Wiss described the victim’s daughter as “deeply traumatized” and she was unable to provide more detail about the animal other than that it was large. Wiss also described the father and daughter as amateur divers.
Sharks are common off Australia’s beaches, but fatal attacks are rare. The country has averaged fewer than two deadly attacks per year in recent decades.