An inquest has heard how a teacher was virtually swallowed whole by a great white shark.
Sam Kellett was spearfishing off the coast of Adelaide in February 2014 with friends when he was attacked by the 16ft long shark.
The 28-year-old's body was never found but police water operations divers did recover two lead weights and a spear gun with “discernible serrated incisions” consistent with white shark teeth impressions, News.com.au reports.
In a witness statement Aaron Whitaker said he heard one of the divers yell out during the attack.
He said: “It made me turn around back out to sea and as I turned around I saw the tail of a shark come out of the water and it was thrashing around.
“I put my face under the water to see the shark but I could not see it.
“All of a sudden a white pointer shark came out the murky water vertically towards the surface just behind me and almost launched itself out of the water.”
Wyatt Raymount told the inquest he saw the shark in the spot where Kellett had been, surrounded by a large pool of blood.
He said: "I did not see Sam, however it was in the exact position I had last seen Sam."
In a statement, Kellet’s parents refused to blame the shark that killed their son.
They said: “He knew he was a visitor in their backyard and the last thing he would want is for this shark, or any other, to be hunted down and culled.”
Kellett, a teacher at Glenunga International high School, was described by principal Wendy Johnson as "a wonderful young man.
Speaking weeks after the attack, she told Adelaide Now: “We have been in close contact with the family and we wanted them to know Sam was, for us, the future of teaching.
“We were very lucky to have him here ... he was very special.”
The inquest continues.
School teacher Sam Kellett was killed by great white shark off Yorke Peninsula, State Coroner finds
AS SA school teacher Sam Kellett was spearfishing off the Yorke Peninsula coast, he screamed. When his friends look around, and instead of Sam, they saw a shark. Now an inquest has handed down its findings.
“I saw it grab something but because it was maybe 5-7 metres away it was at furthest that I could see with the visibility in the water I couldn’t make out what the shark had grabbed.
“After the shark came up I saw a lot of blood in the water. I saw the shark right near Sam’s float and I knew Sam was at his float when I first saw the shark.
“Although I didn’t actually see the shark grabbing Sam I am sure that the shark took him judging by how close the shark was to his float.”
Police divers found two weights and a loaded spear gun that belonged to Mr Kellett during a search after his disappearance.
The items had incisions on them, which Mr Johns said had been examined by shark experts who had concluded the markings were consistent with white shark teeth.
In his findings handed down on Thursday, Mr Johns said he had “no hesitation” in concluding that Mr Kellett was attacked by a shark and that he died as a result.