Eyewitnesses saw a Great White Shark throw a woman "into the air" during a shocking fatal attack as she swam with her daughter.
Julie Dimperio Holowach, from New York, was named as the 63-year-old woman who was fatally attacked off the coast of Maine, US.
Eyewitnesses said she appeared to be enjoying being in the sea with her daughter and was seen laughing before the attack.
Ms Holowach was swimming with her daughter near Bailey Island, Harpswell, when an eyewitness saw her 'dip under the water'.
Another witness said she appeared to be "thrown up in the air by something underwater".
Her daughter swam back to the shore before collapsing on the sand while screaming for help, the Daily Mail reports.
Two kayakers are believed to have swum out to help bring her mum back to the shore but she was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after.
The daughter was not injured in the incident.
The incident, on Monday at around 3.30pm in Harpswell, is understood to be the first fatal shark attack ever recorded in the state's history.
Officials, calling the attack "highly unusual" have not closed beaches and say there have been no further sightings of the shark.
An expert says the shark could have mistaken her for food.
James Sulikowski, a former University of New England professor and researcher who conducts shark research in Maine and locations worldwide, told Press Herald : "This is the first documented fatality ever in Maine.
"Shark interactions with humans are very rare in Maine.
"My guess is that the person was mistaken as a food item."
