The killing of the Great White comes after Durban diver Ian Hill died from a shark attack in Pringle Bay 10 days ago.

Sea Fisheries have issued a warning to the public that Great Whites are protected and that it is an offence to kill, harm or harass the endangered animals.

Sea Fisheries shark expert, Mr Marcel Kroese said yesterday: "The Great White at Macassar was so badly damaged by members of the public that it will be difficult to determine the cause of its death.

"Contrary to what people may think, sharks are fairly fragile and are not difficult to kill. Several hard blows on the gills could do it.

"It is not only illegal to kill Great Whites, but is extremely dangerous too. Sharks are extremely fast moving and even a sick animal could easily injure a person."

He said that when sharks were in distress they everted their stomachs - almost like regurgitating their stomachs - to get rid of the food inside it to make them lighter. They could swallow the stomach again once the stress or danger had passed. This usually happened when sharks were hunted.

Because of this, the dead shark did not have much in its stomach, apart from some hair. The hair had not been identified yet and could be from a seal, one of the shark's main food sources, he said: "I can't say why these people killed the shark. Probably because it was a Great White, they believed it to be the one which had attacked the diver."

He said that in some instances sharks that appeared to be in distress in shallow waters and later died were found to be suffering from a viral infection. It was not known if the virus could be transmitted to humans.

He said that as far as he knew, Sea Fisheries had not laid charges against the shark-killers.

Shark expert at the SA Museum, Dr Len Compagno, said he had not examined the shark's stomach contents yet, but initial reports were that it contained no obvious human remains.

"The hair can be identified by its structure and composition, but we might have to farm it out for analysis," Compagno said.

"The shark is not necessarily connected with the Pringle Bay attack.

"One of the things big sharks eat are seals and seals have hair."

South Africa was the first country in the world to introduce legislation to protect Great Whites.

Since then, some other countries have also done so.