An Australian diver went missing and his wife was sent to the hospital in shock after what police say was a fatal great white shark attack on Sunday.
No trace of an Australian diver has been found more than 24 hours after what police believe was a fatal great white shark attack on Sunday.
Gary Johnson is believed to have been attacked by a great white while diving near Cull Island, on the south coast of Western Australia. Johnson was president of the dive club in the nearby city of Esperance.
No trace of him has been seen since.
“No parts or remains have been found, and the search is ongoing,” Esperance Police Sgt. Allan Keogh told CNN.
Johnson’s wife, Karen Milligan, witnessed the attack and was taken to the hospital to be treated for shock, TV station 7 News reported.
“Gary was my rock,” Milligan said in a statement. “He was a kind, gentle, strong man. He only ever saw the best in people. He will be so truly missed by me, by his family and his friends and the world will be a poorer place without this most beautiful man.”
The attack happened hours after a reported shark sighting in the area. Milligan was reportedly in a boat nearby as Johnson was diving.
“We were always aware of the risks, and often told each other that if we were attacked by a shark, that would just be unlucky,” Milligan said. “We were completely against shark culling, and I still am.”
Great white sharks have been responsible for approximately 40 percent of shark attacks off the Western Australia coast since 1980, and cause more serious and fatal bites than any other shark species, according to Sharksmart, a government information service.
The most recent fatal attack in the area was in 2017, when 17-year old Laeticia Brouwer was fatally injured while surfing with her father about a mile from Esperance.
There were two non-fatal shark bites off Western Australia in 2019, a spokesperson for the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development told CNN.
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