Woman describes the moment her husband was mauled to death by a shark

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A distraught wife who watched her husband being mauled to death by a shark has relived the moment the ocean became 'full of blood and sand'.

Seasoned scuba diver Gary Johnson was killed while diving with his wife Karen Milligan at Devils Rock off Esperance, in Western Australia, on January 5.

When the couple reached the ocean floor 15m down, Mr Johnson disappeared over a mound before reappearing, although Ms Milligan could see her husband from his thighs up. 

Ms Milligan told an inquest into her husband's death she swam towards him, but when she reached him she saw a shark's tail 'flapping' up and down, news.com.au reports. 

'She swam forward in an attempt to strike the tail with the camera she was holding and is unsure if she made contact,' officer assisting the coroner Craig Robertson said.

Ms Milligan then swam towards the surface where she saw her unresponsive husband, whose 'eyes were open'. 

'She saw that he had suffered a traumatic injury to his right arm and was no longer wearing his mask or air tank,' Mr Robertson said. 

Ms Milligan helped swim Mr Johnson back to their boat but couldn't bring him on board.

'Ms Milligan had formed the belief that her husband was no longer alive and her attempts to get him on-board the boat were futile,' Mr Robertson said.

She let go of her husband's body, before he sank into the ocean. 

An emergency search uncovered a small piece of Mr Johnson's wetsuit floating on the surface.

His diving vest, buoyancy compensator device and oxygen tank were later found by divers. 

The couple ran the Esperance Dive Club together. It was their shared passion for the water that saw their relationship blossom.

'He loved diving. He loved squash. He loved his work. He loved Esperance. Most of all he loved his friends and families,' Ms Milligan said after his death.

'He and I were at home in and on the ocean. We would go out diving in our boat whenever we could, most weekends.

'We took photos, not fish. We were always aware of the risks, and often told each other that if we were attacked by a shark, that would just be unlucky.'

She said her husband's dream was to turn Esperance into a marine park.