Horrifying final moments of diver as head ripped off by shark as sea 'turned red in seconds'

Randy Fry was diving for abalone off the coast of California when he was horrifically attacked by a great white shark, which tore off his head and left the sea red

Diver Randy Fry encountered a great white shark "the size of a pickup truck" that struck him at the throat - killing him instantly as it tore his head off. The horrifying - and rare - attack turned the sea around him red.

In California, where Randy met his gruesome fate, only 10 people have been killed by shark attacks throughout history. Globally, the average number of fatalities due to shark attacks is around seven per year. Shark attacks have happened in places as diverse as Australia and South Africa.

While every fatal attack is undoubtedly horrific, the one that took Randy's life in 2004 stands out for its sheer terror, serving as a stark reminder of the serious dangers lurking beneath the ocean's surface, reported the Daily Star.

Randall Fry, or Randy as his friends knew him, was an avid lover of the ocean. He spent much of his free time sport fishing and diving for abalone, a type of marine snail, along the rocky Mendocino coast near his home.

One Sunday afternoon, he set out with his friends, Cliff Zimmerman and Red Bartley, on an abalone hunt, anchoring in a sheltered cove at Kibesillah Rock, about 10 miles from Fort Bragg. It was here that tragedy struck.

Randy and Cliff left the Dolphin - Cliff's 28ft boat - and began diving for abalone in shallow waters, approximately 15ft deep and 150ft from shore. Cliff, who was just 3ft away from Randy during the incident, recounted the horrifying event to the San Francisco Chronicle: "I heard a noise, like 'whoosh,' like a submarine, like a boat going by fast. It was a shark.

"I knew it was a shark. It almost brushed me. I saw its dorsal fin. I don't know what kind it was - all I know is, it was big. Big. It was big enough to kill."

Cliff watched in terror as the shark attacked Randy, turning the sea into a chilling crimson pool. He estimated the shark's size to be around 18ft, comparable to his pickup truck.

He added: "It was massive. I was yelling and yelling, but I knew from the amount of blood that it was fatal. He came in for the kill."

Red, observing the horrifying scene from a boat, quickly pulled Cliff out of the water and sent out a distress call.

He said: "It was over in five seconds. I saw the pool of blood spread across the surface of the water and I knew Randy was gone." Randy's decapitated body was recovered the next day.

Reflecting on the traumatic incident, Cliff said: "It was the most dramatic thing I ever saw in my life. It's just not real. This monster came so fast, it happened so fast and was over so fast you think, 'How can this happen?'". I yelled, 'Randy! Randy!' I yelled, 'Holy s**t! Shark!'". It was terrible. I almost had a heart attack myself. It could have been me."

The nightmare didn't end there. Randy, a father of one, was killed on August 15, but it wasn't until three weeks later, on September 8, that his severed head was discovered by a beachcomber. Randy's fate was tragically unlucky, considering fatal shark attacks are rare in the area.

Experts were "in no doubt whatsoever" that a great white shark was responsible for Randy's death. The deadly creature could have confused him with a seal.

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Cliff revealed: "I never heard of a fatality on this coast. A nibble, maybe, a nip, but never nothing like this. Never a full-bore attack."

In a chilling turn of events, Cliff shared that his dear friend had eerily foreseen his fate at the jaws of a shark.

"Randy and I talked about it many times," he recalled. "He said, 'I think a shark will get me sometime.' ".

Tragically, his grim prediction became a reality in the most dreadful manner.

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