SENSACIONES
5th April 2009, 19:21
The family of shark attack victim Brian Guest said they could begin their closure yesterday after State Coroner Alastair Hope found he was probably "consumed" during the fatal attack.
Mr Guest, whose body was never recovered, was taken by a 4.5m white pointer about 7am on December 27 while diving for crabs with his son Daniel about 50m into Warnbro Sound at Port Kennedy.
Daniel Guest saw the shark swim towards his father. The inquest was told he shouted "help, a shark has my Dad" as his father was pulled down and the shark's dorsal fin thrashed on top of the water.
Witnesses on shore described seeing "a huge creature" with a dorsal fin "one metre in height".
A three-day search turned up the remains of a black and blue top identified as Mr Guest's.
Fisheries Department shark expert Rory McAuley told the inquest television footage of a shark from the area indicated Mr Guest was "probably consumed".
It was unusual for a shark attack victim to be consumed but the fact Mr Guest's body was not recovered could explain the unusually big girth of the shark in the footage.
Mr Hope said he was satisfied death occurred "almost immediately".
"Mr Guest was either consumed by the shark or taken by the shark a significant distance away from the location where the attack had occurred," he said.
The findings mean Mr Guest will no longer be considered a missing person on police files.
Speaking after the inquest, Daniel Guest, flanked by his mother Charmaine and brother Tom, thanked those who searched for his father, a seasoned diver for more than 30 years.
He said it was reassuring to know his father had died instantly and the findings had confirmed what the family already knew.
"He wasn't going to work, he was doing something he enjoyed and that brings a lot of happiness to us in that he was happy when it happened," Daniel Guest said. "It helps us close a lot of doors that need to be closed and opens up a lot of avenues that we couldn't do before."
Mrs Guest also thanked those who took to the water immediately after the attack. "It is a huge thing that they have done, putting their lives at risk," she said.
Mr Guest, whose body was never recovered, was taken by a 4.5m white pointer about 7am on December 27 while diving for crabs with his son Daniel about 50m into Warnbro Sound at Port Kennedy.
Daniel Guest saw the shark swim towards his father. The inquest was told he shouted "help, a shark has my Dad" as his father was pulled down and the shark's dorsal fin thrashed on top of the water.
Witnesses on shore described seeing "a huge creature" with a dorsal fin "one metre in height".
A three-day search turned up the remains of a black and blue top identified as Mr Guest's.
Fisheries Department shark expert Rory McAuley told the inquest television footage of a shark from the area indicated Mr Guest was "probably consumed".
It was unusual for a shark attack victim to be consumed but the fact Mr Guest's body was not recovered could explain the unusually big girth of the shark in the footage.
Mr Hope said he was satisfied death occurred "almost immediately".
"Mr Guest was either consumed by the shark or taken by the shark a significant distance away from the location where the attack had occurred," he said.
The findings mean Mr Guest will no longer be considered a missing person on police files.
Speaking after the inquest, Daniel Guest, flanked by his mother Charmaine and brother Tom, thanked those who searched for his father, a seasoned diver for more than 30 years.
He said it was reassuring to know his father had died instantly and the findings had confirmed what the family already knew.
"He wasn't going to work, he was doing something he enjoyed and that brings a lot of happiness to us in that he was happy when it happened," Daniel Guest said. "It helps us close a lot of doors that need to be closed and opens up a lot of avenues that we couldn't do before."
Mrs Guest also thanked those who took to the water immediately after the attack. "It is a huge thing that they have done, putting their lives at risk," she said.