cdiver2
Contributor
Boy this one is going to get the anti shark people going
Eyewitnesses' shock
An Australian woman from Brisbane has been killed in a shark attack at a popular beach near the city.
Ambulance workers said the 21-year-old suffered extensive injuries, losing both arms below the elbow and sustaining deep wounds to her leg.
Police suspect that several sharks carried out the attack, which happened on North Stradbroke Island.
The victim was thought to have been swimming in shallow water with a local church group when she was attacked.
Friends carried Sarah Kate Whiley from the water and she was quickly flown to hospital by helicopter.
However, she had lost large amounts of blood and had gone into shock. She died later in hospital.
Aggressive
The attack happened at Amity Point, which shares a name with the fictional setting for the film Jaws.
Police believe three bull sharks could have attacked the young woman, and have launched a large-scale hunt in local waters.
We've always thought someone was going to be taken here
Miles Scott
Fisherman
Bull sharks are notorious for being aggressive during mating season.
"If we found them I suppose we would try to retrieve them and see if they have any body parts," said Queensland police inspector Ray Harding.
"Realistically it's virtually impossible [but] the idea is to retrieve what we can."
Local fears
The victim was swimming with friends and her dog about 15m (49ft) offshore when she was attacked in water which had become murky and muddy after a storm on Friday night.
Locals near the site of the attack, on Amity Beach, said they often saw sharks in the water, and had been concerned about a possible attack.
"We've been waiting for this for a long time," said fisherman Miles Scott.
"We've always thought someone was going to be taken here."
There have been 10 fatal shark attacks in Australian waters in the past five years.
And another.
Man fights off five-metre shark
The surfer managed to push the shark away with his hands
An Australian man has managed to fight off a five-metre-long (16ft) shark, thought to be a great white, with his bare hands.
Josh Berris, 26, was surfing with friends off a beach on Kangaroo Island in South Australia on Saturday when he was attacked by the shark.
Mr Berris pushed the shark away with his hands before friends dragged him into the safety of rocks.
The surfer was taken to hospital where he received treatment for cut legs.
'Hit from underneath'
Emergency services praised the quick thinking of Mr Berris' friends in preventing what they said could have been a fatal attack.
"He was just sitting on the board waiting for the next wave... and it just hit him from underneath and knocked him off, then actually just took his board and was dragging him and he had to pull his leg rope off to actually get away from it," paramedic Dean George told local radio.
"It came back again so he pushed it away with his hand," Mr George said.
The attack was the second in two days in Australia. On Friday a 44-year-old man in Western Australia survived repeated attacks by a small shark off a Perth beach.
Great whites have been blamed for a string of attacks on surfers in Australian waters. Some scientists believe the sharks confuse surfers for their natural prey, seals.
Eyewitnesses' shock
An Australian woman from Brisbane has been killed in a shark attack at a popular beach near the city.
Ambulance workers said the 21-year-old suffered extensive injuries, losing both arms below the elbow and sustaining deep wounds to her leg.
Police suspect that several sharks carried out the attack, which happened on North Stradbroke Island.
The victim was thought to have been swimming in shallow water with a local church group when she was attacked.
Friends carried Sarah Kate Whiley from the water and she was quickly flown to hospital by helicopter.
However, she had lost large amounts of blood and had gone into shock. She died later in hospital.
Aggressive
The attack happened at Amity Point, which shares a name with the fictional setting for the film Jaws.
Police believe three bull sharks could have attacked the young woman, and have launched a large-scale hunt in local waters.
We've always thought someone was going to be taken here
Miles Scott
Fisherman
Bull sharks are notorious for being aggressive during mating season.
"If we found them I suppose we would try to retrieve them and see if they have any body parts," said Queensland police inspector Ray Harding.
"Realistically it's virtually impossible [but] the idea is to retrieve what we can."
Local fears
The victim was swimming with friends and her dog about 15m (49ft) offshore when she was attacked in water which had become murky and muddy after a storm on Friday night.
Locals near the site of the attack, on Amity Beach, said they often saw sharks in the water, and had been concerned about a possible attack.
"We've been waiting for this for a long time," said fisherman Miles Scott.
"We've always thought someone was going to be taken here."
There have been 10 fatal shark attacks in Australian waters in the past five years.
And another.
Man fights off five-metre shark
The surfer managed to push the shark away with his hands
An Australian man has managed to fight off a five-metre-long (16ft) shark, thought to be a great white, with his bare hands.
Josh Berris, 26, was surfing with friends off a beach on Kangaroo Island in South Australia on Saturday when he was attacked by the shark.
Mr Berris pushed the shark away with his hands before friends dragged him into the safety of rocks.
The surfer was taken to hospital where he received treatment for cut legs.
'Hit from underneath'
Emergency services praised the quick thinking of Mr Berris' friends in preventing what they said could have been a fatal attack.
"He was just sitting on the board waiting for the next wave... and it just hit him from underneath and knocked him off, then actually just took his board and was dragging him and he had to pull his leg rope off to actually get away from it," paramedic Dean George told local radio.
"It came back again so he pushed it away with his hand," Mr George said.
The attack was the second in two days in Australia. On Friday a 44-year-old man in Western Australia survived repeated attacks by a small shark off a Perth beach.
Great whites have been blamed for a string of attacks on surfers in Australian waters. Some scientists believe the sharks confuse surfers for their natural prey, seals.
