A woman tragically lost her life after being swallowed whole by a 13-foot shark while out on her routine morning swim, without anyone noticing she was gone.
Christine Armstrong, 63, had been swimming with her husband and four friends off the coast of Tathra, New South Wales, in Australia when disaster struck on April 3, 2014.
The experienced swimmer turned back early due to spinal problems, a decision that would ultimately prove fatal.
Christine died on her routine morning swim. Credit: New South Wales Police
A routine swim turns into tragedy
The group had set off from Tathra Wharf to Tathra Beach, a route Christine had swum many times before over her 14 years as a dedicated member of the local surf club.
When she turned back, her husband, Rob, and their friends assumed she’d made it safely to shore. But when they arrived, Christine was nowhere to be found.
According to Bega police inspector Jason Edmunds, Rob immediately grew concerned after spotting a seagull flying unusually close to his head, typically a sign of danger in the water.
“Rob saw a seagull flying close to his head and immediately looked up - seagulls, of course, being a warning sign of large fish or sharks,” Edmunds told ABC News.
Rob then saw something far more terrifying. “I stopped and the fin started coming up and I thought, 'Dolphin? No, that's not a dolphin,'” he said.
The group was heading from Tathra Wharf to Tathra Beach in New South Wales. Credit: Oliver Strewe / Getty
Devastating discovery and unbearable grief
Realizing Christine wasn’t in the changing rooms either, the group launched an inflatable rescue boat and eventually discovered her swimming cap and goggles floating in the water.
Onlookers reported seeing a 10 to 13-foot shark near the surface around the same time. Rob believes the predator consumed his wife completely.
“The shark was such a size and it's consumed her basically completely - she wouldn't have even known it happened,” he told The Mirror. “She would not have known what had hit her.”
Christine’s family issued a heart-wrenching statement remembering her as someone “very loved by many people” and a “senior surf club trainer for many years”.
"She has been swimming at Tathra Beach for 14 years and was an experienced and committed member of the surf club," her family said. "She was a senior surf club trainer for many years and swimming brought her much joy and many friends.
"She will be sadly missed by all who loved her, especially by Rob, her husband of 44 years."
Rob and Christine were teenage sweethearts from Western Australia, bound together even more tightly by the loss of their daughter when they were young.
“We didn't face it as well as we should have, because everyone told us to get on with our lives and not mourn. I know now how bad that was, and I know how important it is now to face this and to get rid of the grief,” Rob told ABC News.
“I know it will never go away, but it'll just get shorter,” he added.
In the days following the attack, Rob returned to the very waters where Christine lost her life - a gesture of painful closure and enduring love.
He told ABC News at the time that if he didn't face it immediately, it would be "worse later", explaining: "So I need to face it now, and that's why I'm exposing myself as much as I am. It will make it better later, and I know that."