A CAPE TOWN resident yesterday described how the jaws of a large shark clamped down on a swimmer just metres from other beach-goers at Fish Hoek.

"Holy S***. We just saw a gigantic shark eat what looked like a person in front of our house... that shark was huge," Gregg Coppen posted on his Twitter account. He witnessed the attack from his home near the beach. The swimmer, a 37 year old Zimbabwean from the Democratic Republic of Congo, on holiday for a month, disappeared under water. Only his goggles were found. Rescuers were expected to continue searching for his body today.

Last night the man could not be identified as most of his relatives had not been told about the attack. His girlfriend who was at the beach with him, had been taken away from the scene and given trauma counselling. Fish Hoek police station spokesman Peter Middlleton said he was shocked to hear the attack happened in water about 2m deep.

Kyle Johnston, of Diep River, said he and his friends had been swimming near the man when the shark struck. "We were swimming only about 15m from the guy. We were in water about chest depth and he was a little deeper. We looked at the walkway and saw people waving towels at us, then we looked further out and saw what looked like blood, and a man's leg came up, Johnston said. "I was floating and I thought the people waving at us were joking, but then I looked back and saw a fin and blood," said his friend Dane Leo.

Irishman Denis Lundon, who was on Jager Walk, saw "several bits of fish" that might have been parts of a single shark emerging from the water, then a swimmer being thrust chest-high out of the sea. "I jumped, waved my hat and roared and screamed at swimmers to get out of the water. I never want to experience this again. I'm going to block it out of my mind," he said.

"We saw the shark come back twice, "Lundon's friend Phyllis McCartain, from England, said. "It had the man's body in its mouth, and his arm was in the air. Then the sea was full of blood." Later Coppen described the shark as being "longer than a minibus and the rubber ducks lifeguards use". "It was this giant shadow heading to something colourful. Then it sort of came out the water and took this colourful lump and went off with it. You could see its whole jaw wrap around the thing which turned out to be a person," Coppen said.

He then saw people running around and panicking on the beach.
National Sea Rescue Institute's helicopter duty commander Ian Klopper said witnesses had reported seeing the man about 100m from the shore when the shark attacked.

Metro Red Cross Air Mercy Service spokeswoman Vanessa Horn said it appeared the shark had dragged the man's body with it.

The helicopter had headed towards Kalk Bay as that was the direction the shark had swum, but it was not seen. Klopper said aside from the rescue helicopter, four vessels were trying to locate the body and rescuers were also doing foot and vehicle patrols on the shoreline.

Shark scientist Alison Kock said eight sharks had been seen between Muizenberg and St James last Friday, another eight on Saturday, and one on Sunday.
"We don't want people to panic. But do be vigilant. We know sharks live here. Don't swim far out or by yourself, or if there has been lots of fish activity in the area,"she said.

After a fatal attack at Fish Hoek five years ago, shark spotters were posted on the mountain slopes to look for sharks close to False Bay swimming spots. At Fish Hoek, flags are raised to indicate whether sharks had been seen.

Yesterday's attack happened hours after the city's disaster risk management centre spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes warned bathers to be on the lookout for sharks in the Fish Hoek area.

He said the appearance of sharks was prevalent during peak summer months near in-shore areas and bathers should obey warnings. NSRI Red Cross Air Mercy Service staff and Fish Hoek lifeguards get ready to search for the body of a tourist who was attacked and killed by a large shark while swimming at Fish Hoek in Cape Town yesterday.

The search was to no avail and only the man's goggles were found. Witnesses reported seeing the shark breaching and dragging the man down.

Article:             Mercury

Date:               13 January 2010

Journalist:        Caryn Dollie and Jo-anne Smetherham

Picture:            Chap Chapman