The horrific moment a Japanese surfer was fatally attacked by a large great white shark off the coast of New South Wales has been captured on camera.
Passionate surfer and father of one Tadashi Nakahara, 42, died at Shelly Beach near Ballina, about 190km south of Brisbane, on Monday morning.
Witnesses said the shark came out of nowhere and attacked Mr Nakahara on his board. Both his legs were bitten off in the attack.
Read more: Japanese surfer killed by a shark off New South Wales beach a 'great guy'
Mr Nakahara lost a lot of blood and died at the beach, despite desperate efforts to save him.
It has now emerged the horrific attack was captured on film - but the footage won't be released publicly.
Australian surf report website Coastalwatch said in a statement that the attack was recorded by its camera at the beach's surf lifesaving club, directly in front of where the incident happened.
The footage had been passed on to police, but Coastalwatch would not be releasing the footage publicly out of respect for Mr Nakahara's family.
The killer was identified today as a three- to four-metre-long great white shark.
Police said they had acted on the advice of a marine scientist, who travelled to Shelly Beach following the attack.
Police, state emergency services, lifesavers and council staff yesterday searched beaches 6km either side of Ballina.
There have been no sightings of a large shark since Monday's attack.
The shark expert said it was unlikely the shark responsible for Mr Nakahara's death would still be in the area.
Coastalwatch said its video showed what appeared to be a "large marine animal coming into contact with a surfer sitting in the water" about 50m offshore.
"The contact appears to last for approximately 5-10 seconds with a large amount of water, turbulence and splashing occurring," the statement said.
"Nothing of a graphic nature can be seen from the surf cam footage other than the water disturbance."
Coastalwatch said two other surfers were seen close to victim, about 20-30m to the north, while another surfer was 5-10m closer to shore. More surfers were in the water to the south of the incident.
After the alarm was raised, control of the surf cam was switched to Surf Life Saving New South Wales' command centre to help coordinate the rescue effort.
Five people were logged onto the livestream at the time, but Coastalwatch said it was unlikely they would have recognised the incident as it was occurring.
The livestream was switched off once the alarm was raised.
Coastalwatch said the footage was captured as its surf cam automatically panned across the beach, and no other footage of the incident was recorded.
Meanwhile, friends and fellow surfers will gather at the Shelly Beach Surf Club on Saturday to mourn Mr Nakahara's death.
His workplace, Webster Surfboards, posted news of the "farewell gathering for our friend and Ballina surfer Tadashi Nakahara" on its Facebook page.
"It would be very special if those of us in the community could join together in honouring Tadashi and his love of surfing.
"Everyone's support has been greatly appreciated and everyone is welcome."
In an earlier post about Mr Nakahara, Webster said: "Proud to call you mate and everything you did for me.
"You loved your sport of surfing and your boy even more ... I hope it's pumping where you are now. Keep smiling."
Mr Nakahara's death was the fourth fatal shark attack in Australia in five months.
Surfers who were with Mr Nakahara said the shark "came up behind and took his board and his legs".
- Additional reporting AAP, AFP