Witnesses have told of their desperate attempts to save a man who was attacked by a shark near Gracetown, south of Perth.
The 31-year-old was surfing south of South Point when he was attacked about 8.15am (WST).
A witness reportedly saw the man in the water about 300m from shore before looking up moments later to see the board floating unattended.
About 10 minutes later, he found the board washed up on shore bitten in half, WA Today reports.
The witness then spotted the surfer struggling to the beach with a deep gash to his right leg.
"He said some seals got chased by the sharks into the corner of the bay," local surfer Rick Jakovich was reported as saying, who tried to resuscitate the victim with a friend.
"His thigh and calf got attacked pretty severely and he lost a lot of blood."
Another surfer in the water, 42-year-old Eddie Kilgallon, described his panic when he heard "Shark!" screams coming from the nearby car park.
"There was four of us in the water and we all freaked out,'' Perth Now reported Mr Kilgallon as saying, who was riding waves at Huzzas about 200m from South Point.
"We started paddling for shore and a pod of seals came up in the middle of us.
"I thought it was a shark at first and thought, 'This is it, I'm gone too'.''
Mr Kilgallon's group rushed to the scene and assisted with first aid, tying a leg rope around the victim's injured limb to act as a tourniquet.
"I was holding what was left of his leg together," he was reported as saying.
"The bottom half of his thigh was exposed and ripped open. Half of his calf muscle was also torn to shreds.
"I saw he had a wedding ring and was telling him that his wife wanted to see him again."
Sergeant Graham Clifford from WA Police media said the man was rushed to Margaret River Hospital with severe injuries.
He later confirmed the man had died.
It was understood the man was surfing by himself at a beach that could only be reached by four-wheel-drive vehicle, Sgt Clifford said.
Gracetown is about 270km south of Perth near the tourist town of Margaret River.
A local resident told ABC News a man watching the surfer from his verandah raised the alarm.
"We got this call from someone who saw a fellow lose his board but then lost sight of the guy," Cassandra Fisher told the ABC.
"So we quickly went down there and it turns out there was a shark down there and we know that he's been bitten — we do know it's a young man."
Police have yet to release the name of the victim, who is believed to be from Busselton.
In 2004 carpenter Brad Smith was killed by a shark while surfing off Gracetown.
The 29-year-old was surfing at a break known as Lefthanders when he was attacked by what was believed to be a great white shark.
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