Man killed by shark after going into the sea to urinate

Experts believe the man may have been attacked by a bull shark (pictured). Photo / File

A Brazilian man was mauled to death by a shark after walking into the sea to urinate, local media reported.

Marcelo Rocha Santos, 51, was drinking with a friend at a beach in the city of Jaboatao dos Guararapes when he felt the call of nature.

Mechanic Edriano Gomes told reporters that it was 2pm local time when Santos entered that water.

"It was a friend of mine who was in the sea with the person who was attacked. Suddenly, he saw the man struggling," Gomes said.

"There was a lot of blood in the water."

Santos and one other man were the only ones in the water at the time.

The other man, Ademir Sebastiao da Silva, told media that the pair entered the water because the beach had no facilities.

"As the beach has no bathroom, I went into the sea to pee. I was beside him with the water up to our waists," he said.

Graphic photos posted online show Santos' mutilated body washed up on the beach.

The photos show Santos' lower arm missing and a large chunk taken out of his leg.

He was rushed to a local hospital but was pronounced dead to shortly after.

The beach has been targeted by sharks in the past and warnings are posted to potential bathers.

In this case, lifeguards reportedly did not warn the men out of the water as they were only wading in up their waists.

Experts believe that the animal that killed Santos was likely a tiger shark or bull shark.

Although many people believe that urine attracts sharks, the science is not solid.

Vic Peddemore from the New South Wales Department of Fisheries in Australia told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2013: "I would have been dead a long time ago — there is no evidence that urine attracts sharks. I have been in the water close to large sharks like a tiger shark and have [p]eed, and it makes no difference."