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A huge great white shark jumped out of the water and ate a high school teacher alive as he fished with friends, an inquest reportedly heard.

Sam Kellett, 28, was spear fishing with friends off the Yorke Peninsula coastline in south Australia when he was fatally attacked in February last year.

Witnesses told the inquest, in Adelaide, how the estimated five-metre shark thrashed its tail and launched itself out of the water.

Mr Kellett's friends said they did not see the attack but saw a huge pool of red blood where Sam had been.

State Coroner Mark Johns heard how the group had originally planned to freedive at Chinamans Hat Island in Innes National Park but a fire warning forced them to move to Goldsmith Beach, about 100km away.

Mr Kellett was in the region to compete in the Freedive Extreme Yorke Peninsula Spearfishing Competition the next day, Adelaide Now reported.

Amy Cacas, counsel assisting the Coroner, said the group had been diving for about three hours when the wind changed forcing them to return to their cars.

One of the group reportedly heard a scream and turned to see a shark thrashing about in the exact spot where Mr Kellet, a teacher at Glenunga International High School, had been moments earlier.

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In a statement, witness Aaron Whitaker said he was swimming on the surface when he heard pal Wyatt Raymount yell out to him.

He said: I turned around [and] saw the tail of a shark come out of the water and it was thrashing around.

“I put my face under the water to see the shark but I could not see it.

“All of a sudden a white pointer shark came out the murky water vertically towards the surface just behind me and almost launched itself out of the water.”

Mr Whitaker said poor visibility meant he could not clearly see what the shark had grabbed but saw a lot of blood in the water near Mr Kellett’s boat, Adelaide Now reported.

Witness Mr Raymount added that he looked under the water and saw a shark, which he assumed had taken Mr Kellett.

“I did not see Sam, however it was in the exact position I had last seen Sam,” he told the inquest.

“It was thrashing and moving around a bit. I saw the shark vertical with its tail towards the bottom and its head near the surface.”

In his affidavit, fellow witness Nicholas Carson said he was about 25m from Mr Kellett when he saw a thrashing shark tail with the surrounding water blood red.

He said: “I was directly behind the shark so I saw the whole body jump out of the water and I think the shark was about 5m long and it was a dark grey colour.

“It looked like a great white shark. It happened so fast.”

Police divers were unable to find Mr Kellett’s body but recovered two lead weights and his spear gun, which had “discernible serrated incisions” consistent with white shark teeth impressions, the inquest heard.

The inquest continues.