A mother was savagely killed  by a 20-foot shark in what is widely regarded as one of the most horrific shark attacks ever recorded.

The tranquil, crystalline waters of Peake Bay continue to attract visitors today. Yet on that tragic March Sunday, danger stalked beneath the surface at Wiseman’s beach.

The mammoth predator, estimated by eyewitnesses to measure up to 20 feet in length, but the Port Lincoln mother-of-four in two whilst her husband and children looked on unable to help from the shore. Her husband’s anguished cry from the beach was simply: “She’s gone, she’s gone.”

Her four children, Jason, Tanya, Carla, and Sonya, all under 12 years old, witnessed the tragedy alongside their father, reports the Mirror.

A manhunt was initiated for the shark, the Lincoln Times reported at the time. The Port Lincoln Game Fishing Club, supported by abalone divers, launched an extensive search for the killer shark, discovering a net in the vicinity had been bitten through.

Fish bait was distributed around the Bolingbroke region in an attempt to draw the shark from the waters. Authorities issued an alert urging the public to avoid swimming in the vicinity.

A gathering in Port Lincoln involving the Game Fishing Club, Port Lincoln Diving Club, abalone divers and worried Tumby Bay residents concluded that the shark had to be killed. A spokesman for the Diving Club, Peter Hurrell, stated it was thought the shark responsible for Shirley’s death was either wounded or elderly.

“(Shark experts) say sharks are not partial to human blood so the shark must be too slow to catch its normal food,” he said. He added: “The shark has been called a rogue and must be destroyed. An attack could happen again.” Port Lincoln Police maintained a presence at Wiseman’s Beach following the incident. Divers explored the ocean depths but discovered nothing.

Challenging sea conditions initially hindered the hunt for the creature after the Fisheries Department’s 8.2 metre Shark Cat patrol vessel came up empty following a three and a half hour operation.

Subsequently, local State Emergency Service crews and police scoured the Peake Bay vicinity in the SES rescue craft. Senior sergeant Gerhardy stated authorities had received no sightings of sharks in the Peake Bay region prior to the tragedy. A commemorative service for Shirley took place at the Port Lincoln Uniting Church.