Shark Attacks 2011: Great White Kills American Diver in Australia

In the latest of shark attacks 2011, a great white shark killed an American diver near Perth, Australia Saturday -- the second fatal shark attack off the coast of Western Australia in the past two weeks.

A witness on a nearby dive boat Saturday told police a large amount of bubbles reached the water's surface before the body of the 32-year-old man who died in the shark attack surfaced. According to a report from Reuters, the American diver who died had suffered obviously traumatic fatal injuries.

The shark, described by the diver's friends as a 10-foot great white, attacked the man as friends watched with horror from a private 25-foot Bertram boat. The American tourist who died was diving near Rottnest Island at Little Armstrong Bay, according to the Australian newspaper PerthNow. The shark attacked at around 1:30 p.m. (AWST). The American had been living in Australia for the past six months on a work visa, according to a report from The West Australian.

Authorities have not released his U.S hometown or identification.

Meanwhile, authorities have been hunting the shark with a license to kill.

The decision has been made that if we capture the shark we will kill it, Department of Fisheries regional manager Tony Cappelluti said, according to Fox. The intention is for us to set some gear at the site of the attack and see if we can capture the shark. The policy is that if there's a clear and present danger that we can take a great white.

The attack raises concern for divers in the area, as the American diver became the fourth shark attack victim in the Western Australia waters in the past 14 months. Earlier this month 64-year-old Perth resident Bryn Martin is believed to have killed by a shark while swimming in waters off a popular beach.

Authorities don't know if the American was killed by the same shark that killed Martin on his regular morning swim off Perth's premier Cottesloe Beach, about 380 yards offshore. The locations of the two attacks are about 11 miles apart along the Western Australia cost. But while no remains of Martin were found, analysis of a portion of his swim trunks recovered suggested a great white shark had been responsible for his disappearance and likely death.

Shark attacks are said to be more prone on cloudy days. Martin was attacked on a cloudy day, as was the American diver who died Saturday.