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“The victim, Shirley Anne Durdin, was snorkelling for scallops with her husband, Barry, and a friend, Keith Coventry, out from Wiseman’s Beach, Peake Bay, South Australia. Peake Bay had always been a popular picnic spot and the beach was dotted with families, including Mrs Durdin’s four children. It was a beautiful day with clear calm water. Keith Coventry told me that he was just swimming away after comparing his scallop catch with that of Mrs Durdin, when he heard a strange sound, but definitely not as the papers reported, terrible screams…‘I heard a sound rather like a sharp groan. Turning around I saw Shirley high above the surface. My first thought was how could she lift herself up like that, then a huge fin broke the water. There was some thrashing and the surrounding area turned dark. I instinctively swam towards Shirley, then thought; “Hey, what can I do? She’s gone.” Turning back I saw Shirley’s husband, Barry, standing ten metres away on some submerged rocks about to enter the water, I swam to him and said: “Don’t come in, a shark has taken Shirley, she’s gone, completely gone.” Barry was shattered. “I must go to Shirley. I must help her,” he cried, but knowing it was useless, I held him back lest he meet the same terrible fate as his wife. We struggled for a minute then turned towards the beach. The 120 metres looked like 120 kilometres. I don’t think I have ever swum so hard in my life. One of my flippers came off, but I dared not hesitate to retrieve it. The thought of that huge black shark kept me going.’
A Mr Hirschausen, watching from a nearby cliff, raced to his dinghy at the water’s edge. Within minutes, he and a friend had launched his boat and headed towards where he had last seen the woman. Her head and top torso were floating in a pool of blood, but before the rescuers could touch the remains, a great conical nose broke the surface and snatched them down, leaving nothing but empty blood-stained water. A huge search was organised but only one blue flipper was ever found.”
Great Shark Stories Valerie and Ron Taylor (1978)