Australia: Great white sharks kill deep-sea diver

(EPA)

A deep-sea diver has been killed by sharks in a rare attack off southern Australia.

In only the second attack in the country's coastal waters in more than two years, the diver was attacked by a pair of sharks as he returned to the surface. The attack was seen by the skipper of the boat awaiting him near Coffin Bay, about 200 miles from Adelaide. "I saw the beast come up and take him," the boat's captain was reported to have said. "There's no way he could have survived."

The sharks were believed to be great whites. The attack, which comes after a reported increase in sightings of the animals in the area, was highly unusual: only 24 deaths have been recorded in two decades up to 2009. The last came in December 2008, when a man was mauled by a great white off Western Australia while snorkelling with his son.