A DAD mauled to death by a 16ft sharked was bravely trying to save other swimmers when he was killed.
Mercury Psillakis, 57, was missing “both his legs” on – and tragically died.
Mercury Psillakis, right, died after a huge shark bit a chunk off his body
Family and friends comfort each other at the scene of the tragedy
Mercury leaves behind a wife and a young daughter
Now, pals have revealed that Mercury had spotted the shark about 100 metres from the shore – and was desperately warning other surfers.
Friend and former pro-surfer Toby Martin told the Daily Telegraph : “He was at the back of the pack still trying to get everyone together when the shark just lined him up.”
“It came straight from behind and breached and dropped straight on him. It’s the worst-case scenario.
“They normally come from the side but this one came straight from behind, breached and dropped on him. It was so quick.”
Mercury was pulled underwater, disappearing alongside his board.
Grisly remains of his torso washed up on the beach with “multiple limbs” missing.
Toby said: “A couple of the guys had to get the remaining parts of his torso into shore with was pretty traumatic.”
Mercury’s family was on the beach as the tragedy became clear and were comforted by others on the beach.
Another witness, Mark Morgenthal, told Sky News the shark was “huge” – estimating it at around six metres.
He also recalled hearing a man yelling for his life as the shark circled.
Mark said: “There was a guy screaming: ‘I don’t want to get bitten, I don’t want to get bitten, don’t bite me,’ and I saw the dorsal fin of the shark come up, and it was huge.
“Then I saw the tail fin come up and start kicking, and the distance between the dorsal fin and the tail fin looked to be about four metres, so it actually looked like a six-metre shark.”
Two sections of a surfboard were also later recovered and taken for examination, police said.
Mercury’s twin brother Mike, who was at Long Reef beach watching a junior surf competition, rushed to the scene as the tragic news unfolded.
Both were lifelong surfers and well-known in the local community.
Mercury leaves behind a wife and young daughter, and also has a twin brother
Cops put up a tent on the beach as the attack was investigated
Police closed the section of coast between Long Reef and Dee Why beaches after the tragedy on Saturday morning.
Local witness Sophie Lumsden recalled the sense of panic: “I was sitting at the beach having a coffee and the shark alarm went off.
“Four ambulances arrived minutes later.”
Shark experts suspect that the beast responsible was a large great white.
Varlerie Taylor told the Daily Telegraph: “Bull sharks jerk and shake and take out a chunk but a great white will come and take one big bite.
“To take a bite like this would mean it was a very large great white.”
Associate Professor Daryl McPhee of Bond University said great whites are more common off Sydney in spring as whales migrate, but stressed the risk remains very low.
New South Wales police inspector Stuart Thomson said: “It would appear that a large shark has attacked him and as a result of that he lost a number of limbs.
“His friends managed to make it back to the beach safely, and a short time later his body was found floating in the surf.
“Unfortunately by that time we understand he’d lost probably a lot of blood and resuscitation was not possible.
“We understand he leaves behind a wife and a young daughter – with tomorrow being Father’s Day, it’s particularly tragic.”
