Victim's brother says leave shark alone

PERTH, Australia, July 12 (UPI) -- The brother of a surfer killed in a shark attack off western Australia appealed Monday for authorities not to hunt down and kill the maneater.

A helicopter and boat have been hunting for two sharks involved in Saturday's attack on Bradley Smith, 29, but his brother, Stephen, said killing them would be "an act of senseless revenge," The Times of London reported.

"We're still in the process of coming to grips with what's happened," the brother told reporters. "But I don't believe the shark should be killed for the sake of what's happened."

The shark attacked Smith as he was surfing near the town of Margaret River, about 100 miles south of Perth.

The creature described by witnesses as "as big as a car" knocked him off his board and then bit him while he struggled in the water a couple of hundred yards from the shore. Another shark was seen circling nearby.

Wildlife officials suspect it was either a great white shark, or possibly a smaller bronze whaler shark. It was the sixth fatal shark attack in Australian waters since 2000.