By SCOTT INGLIS
A second surfer was taken by a shark on the South Australian coast yesterday as searches continued for the remains of New Zealander Cameron Bayes.
By last night, shattered surfboards were the only remains searchers had found of either man.
Newlywed Mr Bayes, aged 25, was a rookie shearer. He was paddling his surfboard just beyond the break line at Cactus Beach, 600km northwest of Adelaide, on Sunday when a giant white pointer shark started circling.
Witness Jeff Hunter described the horror as the 5m predator suddenly knocked Mr Bayes into the water. The New Zealander managed to pull himself back on to his board and frantically paddled for shore.
But he got only 3m before the great white lunged again, taking him to his death.
"It was just a blur of shark and thrashing water ... We could see the thrashing going on under the water," said Mr Hunter, who has surfed at the beach for more than 25 years.
Yesterday, as police searched for Mr Bayes' body, the second surfer was taken 150km to the east at Black Pt, a popular beach that can be reached only by climbing down a steep cliff.
Shark experts said it was unlikely that the same creature was involved in both attacks because of the distance between the beaches.The attacks confirmed early spring as a dangerous time for surfers along the western coast of South Australia.
State Government Fisheries Department director Brian Hemming said warmer weather and breeding patterns meant that white pointers gathered in large numbers.
"This is the time shark sightings increase in frequency ... They are constantly looking for food."
The tragedy has devastated the families of Mr Bayes and his young wife, Tina, who was taken to hospital suffering from shock.
Mr Bayes was born in Dunedin to Graham and Lynn, and had a younger sister, Katy, who is in Greece, and an elder sister, Melanie.
After leaving school, he started work as a shearer in Luggate, near Wanaka. His boss, Colman Rangi, took him on as a rookie and quickly warmed to him.
"He was an excellent worker ... He was one of the industry's gentlemen - very polite, courteous, which is pretty hard to find in our industry," he told the Herald.
Mr Bayes, who was also a volunteer firefighter, spent three years working for Mr Rangi before leaving just before Christmas.
He had met Tina, who worked in a bank, during his time in Luggate and they married in Taupo in February before heading to Australia for a working holiday. Their plans included moving on to England.
Those who knew them described them as a happy, perfect couple.
Mr Bayes' aunt, Maureen Bayes-Mortimer, said: "She absolutely loved him and he was so proud of her - a very old-style love, very protective of her."
Like the rest of his family, Mr Bayes enjoyed surfing, diving and fishing.
The couple had just visited Tina's brother and were to leave Cactus Beach and head west, where he planned to get work shearing.
Senior Constable Brenton Phillips, of Penong, told the Herald that Mr Bayes was the only surfer among the 1-2m waves at Cactus Beach on Sunday morning.
Cactus Beach and other nearby beaches have a reputation for white pointers and other sharks, and the attack was the second there this year.
In February, Anthony Hayes was mauled by a 3m shark, but survived because his friend, Steve Thomas, punched and poked the shark in the eyes until it let go.
Great whites have been spotted in New Zealand waters. Some experts believe they attack humans because they mistake them for seals, but this theory remains unproven.
Second shark strike on coast where Kiwi died
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