sylvia costello has the details. >> reporter: a daily morning swim for 14 years.s time christine armstrong didn't return to the beach south of sydney. she got separated from the group she was swimming with, which included her husband. he saw a large shark, three to four meters in length. he didn't see an attack. but an eyewitness may have. >> an independent witness was up on the rocks and had seen a large shark in the area. and it appeared that the shark was mauling something. he wasn't able to tell what the shark was mauling. an intensive land and sea search has been ongoing since then involving helicopters, water police, surf lifesavers and local people as well in an attempt to locate her. so far we found no trace. >> reporter: the fruitless search was called off late thursday afternoon. although sharks are common off the australia coast, the country has averaged fewer than two fatal attacks per year in recent decades. christine armstrong's family said in a statement that swimming brought her much joy. but this time it seems swimming took her life as well. sylvi