An inquest was told several hours passed before emergency services were alerted to a shark attack on a diver off lower Eyre Peninsula, with the boat's skipper ringing a lawyer and a friend first.

A South Australian coroner heard Peter Clarkson's last moments in 2011 were witnessed by abalone boat skipper Howard Rodd, who saw blood in the water and blood coming from the victim's mouth.The inquest was told Mr Rodd was unable to get the man back on board.Detective Anthony Boots said a GPS alert had not been activated at the time of the attack, nor did Mr Rodd use an EPIRB, UHF or CB radio, or drop a marker buoy.Telephone records showed the first people the skipper rang included an industry contact, a friend and a lawyer.Detective Boots said he did not have any evidence of foul play and believed Mr Rodd was in "overwhelming shock" after witnessing his colleague being attacked.