Hunt on for killer shark off West Australian coast

PERTH - A shark that attacked and killed a charter boat skipper was being hunted off the West Australian coast today while his traumatised crew and passengers returned to Geraldton.

Geoffrey Brazier, 26, of Perth, was bitten in half when attacked yesterday by a 6m shark off the Abrolhos Islands group, 60km west of Geraldton, 500km north of Perth.

He had been snorkelling with others from the luxury vessel, the Matrix, when the shark took him, witnesses said.

Today WA Fisheries began an extensive search for the shark, either a Great White or a Tiger shark, which they said would be killed and used for forensic purposes.

Fisheries officer Rory McAuley said they were looking for the remains of the victim, but also to ensure there was no ongoing risk to the public.

Police have warned local fishermen not to enter the water in the area while the search continued for the shark with the help of a department shark expert.

Late this afternoon the crew and passengers aboard the Matrix arrived in Geraldton.

Department of fisheries regional manager Russell Dyson said those on board the Matrix who had witnessed the attack were in shock.

"As you would naturally expect, they are shocked and traumatised," he said.

Counselling was being organised for them, Mr Dyson said.

The charter vessel, which was on its maiden voyage from Perth to the Kimberley, had been moored at Wreck Point in the southeast corner of Pelseart Island, part of the Abrolhos Islands group, when the attack happened.

Today's search involving two patrol boats and police failed to turn up traces of either Mr Brazier or the shark.

Mr Dyson said it was not surprising nothing had been found.

"It is open waters out there, we are on the edge of the continental shelf," he said.

Although some small tiger sharks had been seen, there was no sighting of a shark resembling the one that mauled Mr Brazier.

"Sharks are quite common in the Abrolhos Islands but there was nothing that even suggested itself to be like the shark involved in this incident," Mr Dyson said.

The boat's owners, Matrix Ocean Adventures, declined to comment today.

A spokesman said the company would rather "let the facts come out" from authorities.

The company would be extending sympathy to the man's family and friends "but I think we'll do that in private".

The company's website says the 24m Matrix, with six cabins and private ensuite facilities, is the largest and most luxurious catamaran cruising the Kimberley coast.

Launched in September last year, it cruises for up to 13 nights at a time, departing from Broome or Wyndham with a maximum of 12 passengers.

Trevor Beaver, owner of Geraldton's Batavia Coast Dive Academy, said today he was not surprised to hear of the shark attack.

"I believe sharks follow the whale migration patterns along the coast although it is probably a little bit early for that," he said.

The fatal shark attack is the third in WA in less than five years.

Last July, 29-year-old surfer Brad Smith died when he was attacked while surfing off Gracetown, about 270km southwest of Perth.

And in November 2000, 49-year-old Ken Crew died in an attack at North Cottesloe beach in Perth during an early morning swim.

- AAP