The man who died in a great white shark attack on Tuesday has been remembered as a ‘truly special soul’ who is ‘home now in the ocean’ in heartbreaking tribute given by his daughter.
Mark Sanguinetti, 59, from Sydney’s Northern Beaches, was fatally mauled by a 4.5m great white shark off Tuncurry Beach near Forster on the NSW mid-north coast on Tuesday morning.
His horrifying final moments were made clear by a witness, Daryl, who described what happened in not one, but two attacks the great white shark made on Mr Sanguinetti.
Mark Sanguinetti, pictured with one of his daughters, is ‘home now, in the ocean’, according to a heartbreaking family tribute
Shark attack victim Mark Sanguinetti’s daughters knew him as ‘a legend with a heart as vast and deep as the ocean’. Mr Sanguinetti ‘first love’ was the ocean, he is pictured here snorkeling with friends
The shark came out of the water, just smashed him, five seconds later he came round and hit him again, 7News reported Daryl as saying.
‘We all knew him as a legend with a heart as vast and deep as the ocean, which was the first of his many loves,’ one of his daughters penned in a hand-written tribute, which also invited surfers to a ceremonial ‘paddle out’ to remember Mr Sanguinetti.
That will take place at Palm Beach on May 24 at 4.30pm.
Mark Sanguinetti, 59, was fatally mauled by a 4.5m great white shark off Tuncurry Beach near Forster on the NSW mid-north coast on Tuesday morning
Four great white sharks have been captured at a beach where a surfer was mauled to death by one of the predators a day earlier.
Mr Sanguinetti was desperately warning friends of the danger when he was attacked.
Authorities on Wednesday morning caught a shark on a drum line off the beach, but it is not believed to be the same predator that was spotted by a drone following Tuesday’s attack.
A man in his 50s died after he was bitten by a shark on the upper leg on the New South Wales mid-north coast on Tuesday. Emergency crews are pictured at the scene
A spokeswoman for the NSW Department of Primary Industries told Daily Mail Australia four white sharks were caught, tagged and released on Wednesday morning off Tuncurry Beach and nearby Forster Main Beach.
All of the sharks reeled in on Wednesday were different lengths to the one involved in Tuesday’s attack.
The white sharks captured at Main Beach were both 2.5m, while those at Tuncurry Beach were 2.3m and 2.45m.
Footage showed one of the sharks tied to the side of a boat as it was taken further out into the ocean, 9News reported.
Drum lines had been dropped into the water by government workers in an attempt to hook the sharks.
The lines are non-lethal traps used to lure and capture sharks using baited hooks, allowing authorities to move sharks away from popular beaches without using deadly force.
A shark is pictured after being captured on a drum line off the beach on Wednesday morning
Tuesday’s mauling is the first confirmed fatal shark attack in Australian waters this year, though it’s believed another man was killed by a shark off South Australia in January.
Emergency crews were called to the beach, just north of Forster, about 11.20am after the man was bitten while surfing.
Police said the man spotted the shark before it latched on, leaving him with horrific injuries to his upper thigh.
Pictured is a great white shark spotted by drone near to where the surfer was attacked on Tuesday
‘When the attack occurred the man did actually see the shark and called out to try and warn others’ Superintendent Christopher Schilt told reporters.
‘Very heroically his friends were able to bring him back into shore after he had been attacked.’
Locals believe Tuesday’s incident at Tuncurry beach was likely caused by a well-known great white known as ‘Bruce’.
Despite the efforts of bystanders – which included an off-duty paramedic – the man died on the shore.
NSW Ambulance Inspector Joshua Smyth praised the man’s friends who worked with paramedics for 40 minutes to revive him.
‘They commenced CPR. They gave that patient the best chance that they could get at that time, but (we) were unable to save him.’
Tuesday’s attack was at Tuncurry Beach near the popular tourist spot of Forster on the mid-north coast of New South Wales
Surf Lifesaving NSW has closed beaches from Blackhead Beach to One Mile Beach for at least 24 hours, and the DPI is deploying smart drumlines at Tuncurry Beach.
Shark scientists from the NSW Department of Primary Industry have since analysed photos of the bite and determined a white shark about 4.5m long is likely responsible for the attack.
Drones have been deployed in the area, as the DPI and police search for the shark responsible.
At least two sharks about three metres long were spotted in the area on Tuesday, as well as a roughly 4.5m great white captured by a drone videographer.
Victorian father Duncan Craw (pictured) died in the water off Port MacDonnell in SA in January in a suspected shark attack
Local lifesaver Brian Wilcox said the attack was ‘pretty unprecedented’.
‘I can’t recall ever having a shark attack in this area,’ he told ABC TV.
The DPI has advised water users and beach goers to follow the NSW SharkSmart Twitter feed or download the SharkSmart app for the latest information on shark movements and sightings.
Eight people were killed in shark attacks in Australian waters last year, according to the Taronga Conservation Society which records shark fatalities.
In January, Victorian father Duncan Craw went missing in waters off Port MacDonnell in South Australia, and his torn wetsuit was later found, but his case was not recorded as an official shark fatality.