Updated: 02:10 PM EST
Hunt Continues for Shark That Killed Snorkeler
By ROD McGUIRK, AP

CANBERRA, Australia (March 20) - Authorities were hunting Sunday for a
20-foot shark that tore a man in half as he snorkeled off Australia's
west coast, an official said.

Geoffrey Brazier, the skipper of a pleasure cruiser, was snorkeling
with two tourists when he was attacked Saturday. He died instantly off
the Abrolhos Islands, about 250 miles north of the Western Australia
state capital, Perth, police said. No one else was injured.

"The 26-year-old man was bitten in half by the six-meter (20-foot)
animal and death seemed to be instantaneous," police Insp. George
Putland said.

An air and sea search of the area 37 miles west of the coastal town of
Geraldton Sunday failed to find the shark or human remains.

Government fisheries officer Rory McAuley said authorities wanted to
kill the shark, suspected to be either a great white or tiger, to
safeguard the public.

Residents of the area said the killer was far larger than sharks
usually found there. The attack was the first to occur off the west
coast since two sharks killed a 29-year-old surfer south of Perth in
July.

The 13 crew and passengers disembarked Sunday at Geraldton where they
were questioned by authorities.

The fatality is the first in Australian waters since December, when an
18-year-old surfer was bitten in half by a 16-foot great white shark
off a beach in the southern city of Adelaide. A week earlier, a shark
killed a 38-year-old diver spear fishing on the Great Barrier Reef off
northeast Australia.

03-20-05 13:44 EST