WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Friends of surfer Brad Smith, 29, witnessed the horrifying moment he was attacked and killed by two great white sharks off the coast of Gracetown, Western Australia

Great white shark

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The surfer’s friends watched in horror(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Friends have described the desperate final moments of a young surfer who was attacked by two enormous sharks off the coast of Gracetown, Australia right before their eyes.

His friends watched in horror as Smith fell into the waters, thrashing around in a mixture of water and blood.

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He desperately tried to fight back, pushing the creature away and striking it in the nose with his fists.

But soon his friends noticed a second shark approaching. After about 45 seconds of fighting, they say Smith was dragged beneath the surface as the water turned a deep red, reports the Mirror.

The woman died a brutal death

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The surfer died a brutal death(Image: SWNS)

Then, Smith’s lifeless body floated to the surface, “bitten in half”.

His friends courageously braved the shark-infested waters to retrieve what was left of Smith, warning other surfers, “Don’t go in there, someone’s been bitten.”

Cameron Rowe, 17, said: “There was nothing we could do to help him. At first I saw one shark and thought it was one of the usual ones you see swimming-around, reef sharks, which don’t cause you any trouble.

“But these things were massive. When the first one came up a bit I could see its fin and it was almost a yard high.

A large predatory fish swims through the deep ocean, surrounded by a dense school of smaller fish. The underwater environment is depicted with clear visibility, showcasing the dynamic interaction between the predator and its prey.

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The shark was said to be as wide as a car(Image: ullstein bild via Getty Images)

“When it came out of the water with Brad still fighting it, I could see its body was about the width of a car and its open jaws were as wide as a man’s arm.

“What happened then just ended up in a terrible feeding frenzy. It was awful.”

Experts believe he had been attacked by great white sharks, which are larger, faster and more aggressive than other species.

Whilst shark attacks are uncommon, approximately four people are killed by the creatures in Australia each year

Following Smith’s death, marksmen took to the waters on a flotilla of boats, supported by police helicopters, attempting to locate and cull the maneaters.

An image depicts a large shark swimming in the ocean under the bright rays of sunlight penetrating through the water surface.

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The man’s friends watched in horror(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

Tony Cappelluti, an officer from the fisheries authority said: “If we find them, we have the authority to kill them. Great whites are a protected species, unless one kills a human.

“If they’ve tasted human blood, then they’ll remain a problem until we’ve tracked them down.”

Smith’s close friend Rod Draper said he was an enormously popular figure in the local surf scene. “He absolutely loved life,” he said.

“There isn’t a person who could say a bad word about him.”

Despite calls from some surfers for sharks to be killed, Smith’s family reportedly urged authorities not to kill the animal, saying they did not blame it for what happened.