A MAN, aged 26, was bitten in half by a 20ft great white shark as he was snorkelling with tourists off the Western Australian coast, officials said last night.

The party had dived from the deck of a luxurious charter boat and were swimming near the vessel when the shark suddenly appeared.

The snorkellers watched horrified as it seized the victim, a deckhand, in its jaws and dragged him away.

The man, who has not been named, is believed to have died almost instantly. A fisheries department vessel was called to the scene but has so far been unable to find the victim’s remains.

The attack occurred on the maiden voyage of the Matrix, a 75ft chartered boat, from Perth to the Kimberley region. It was moored in the southeastern corner of Pelsart Island, part of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands group, 35 miles from Geraldton.

It was the third fatal shark attack in Western Australia in four years. The most recent was last July when a 29-year-old man was killed.

On several other occasions swimmers have either been mauled or had narrow escapes from great whites.

A fortnight ago a spearfisherman was stalked by a 16ft great white and there have been several other sightings in the past few weeks.

In December Nick Peterson, 18, was killed in front of his friends by two great whites while he was being towed by a boat off West Beach in Adelaide, South Australia. His remains were never found.

The local government used a plane, a helicopter and 50 boats in its search for the killer sharks. “Any shark posing a threat to human life should be destroyed: that is unequivocal,” declared Kevin Foley, the state’s acting premier.

Great whites — known in Australia as white pointers — are notoriously difficult for swimmers to spot because of their grey backs.

Although widespread, they are classified as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

With almost 3,000 teeth and powerful jaws, they are among the most fearsome of marine predators. They tend to attack from below their prey, can reach speeds of up to 25mph and leap clean out of the water.

Great whites, which achieved notoriety through the 1975 film Jaws, top the man-eater list of sharks and are blamed for between five and 10 deaths a year. It is thought that some attacks may be due to mistaken identity, as the silhouette of a swimmer viewed from below is similar to a seal or sea lion.

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