Father who loved sharks 'killed by Great White'

A MAN who campaigned for the protection of sharks is feared to have been killed by one after he vanished off a Western Australian beach.

Hopes were fading for Brian Guest, who had been snorkelling for crabs on Saturday with his 24-year-old son Daniel when he disappeared.

A five-hour search for 51-year-old Mr Guest had to be abandoned because of strong winds and choppy waters.

A television news helicopter captured footage of a great white shark cruising near the beach later that day.

Daniel said he saw a commotion in the water before his father vanished as they swam in waters off Port Kennedy, about 30 miles south of Perth.

Other witnesses reported seeing a shark rolling over and hearing a man shouting. It was reported there was blood in the water.

The beach was closed and police and marine rescue patrols searched for the father of three, who regularly swam there. They found a fragment of a wetsuit believed to belong to Mr Guest.

His family today said they wanted the creature to be spared. "It was always dad's wish if this sort of thing ever happened," Daniel said.

Writing on a fishing website in 2005, Mr Guest made clear that he did not think sharks should be killed to reduce risk to swimmers. "Our place on earth is not so sacred that we remove every threat that exists," he wrote.

Authorities were considering whether to resume the search today but said there was a "strong probability" that Mr Guest was killed by a shark.