Diver’s death treated as second ‘fatal shark incident’ near Perth in a week

[webfact]

Diver’s death treated as second ‘fatal shark incident’ near Perth in a week
By Sarah Joanne Taylor | With DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES, SHARKSMART.COM



PERTH: -- A 60-year-old woman has died of injuries consistent with a shark attack sustained off the coast of Western Australia.

If confirmed as a shark attack, it will be the second such fatal incident near Perth in less than a week.

The woman was diving between the One Mile and Three Mile reefs off Mindarie Marina, in Perth’s northern suburbs when she was killed.

A 43-year-old male companion was diving with her. He says he swam to the surface after feeling something nudge him in the water. It was then that he claims to have seen a shark attack the woman. He managed to pull her body onto their boat, but was too late to save her.

Surf Life Saving WA issued three public reports of shark sightings via Twitter on the day of the suspected attack.

The Department of Fisheries says it is treating the death as a fatal shark incident It has sent boats out to patrol the area and says it will be deploying shark capture gear near the site of the reported attack.

“Given the nature of the injuries and the location of the incident, it is likely that a large white shark, greater than three metres in size, is responsible,” a spokesperson for the department said.

Witnesses in a nearby boat say the shark was bigger than their 5.3-metre vessel.

Beaches on either side of Mindarie boat ramp have been closed and will remain so until Monday, according to the City of Wanneroo.

Second fatal attack

The incident comes days after 29-year-old Ben Gerring died of injuries from a shark attack while surfing south of Perth.

He lost a leg and was placed into an induced coma following Tuesday’s incident (May 31), but died on Friday (June 3).

That shark was captured on baited drum lines and killed. A state government order has been given to do the same with the suspected killer in Mindarie.

-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-06-06

[Thechook]

Australia is probably the deadliest place on the planet when it comes to wildlife. If it walks, crawls, flies or swims it can kill you

[Old Croc]

Back in the day I used to spend hours diving/snorkeling, looking for crays, around that line of reefs off the northern Perth beaches.

A good area was near Little Island, out from Hillarys where you would often find sea lions sunning themselves. Sometimes they joined you in the water. White Pointers were never a consideration then.

Years later when the World Swimming Championships were being held in Perth, and just before the open water swim was due to start and finish in nearby Hilarys Marina, a Great White was seen feasting on a sea lion carcass near the Island. They went ahead with the swim, albeit with massive extra security.

I wouldn't swim there today, the stocks of large sharks has massively increased and they seem to frequent shallower waters these days. People are part of the diet.

Bugger the greenies, and the friends of the sharks, who never venture a toe in the sea, these monsters need to be culled!

[connda]

Everyone freaks out about shark attacks because there is something incredibly primordial about death by all those teeth. The teeth of an Alpha Predator. But then again, you really need to be incredibly unlucky to die from a shark attack; much more unlucky that the scores of people who die from lightening strikes and mosquito bites.

This news would never keep me out of the water, but trust me, every time I swim, dive, of surf (especially surfing with your legs in the water, sitting on your board, waiting for a wave) somewhere in the back of your primordial mind is the soundtrack from Jaws playing in the background. Da da da dunt. Da da da dunt. Da da da dunt da da da dunt......

I'm not a 'greenie' plus man is the ultimate Alpha Predator, and imho, shark is on the menu too. Tastes like chicken....just kidding. But it does taste good!

Edited June 6, 2016 by connda

[stevenl]

Back in the day I used to spend hours diving/snorkeling, looking for crays, around that line of reefs off the northern Perth beaches.

A good area was near Little Island, out from Hillarys where you would often find sea lions sunning themselves. Sometimes they joined you in the water. White Pointers were never a consideration then.

little Island.PNG

Years later when the World Swimming Championships were being held in Perth, and just before the open water swim was due to start and finish in nearby Hilarys Marina, a Great White was seen feasting on a sea lion carcass near the Island. They went ahead with the swim, albeit with massive extra security.

I wouldn't swim there today, the stocks of large sharks has massively increased and they seem to frequent shallower waters these days. People are part of the diet.

Bugger the greenies, and the friends of the sharks, who never venture a toe in the sea, these monsters need to be culled!

People are not part of their diet.

[Old Croc]

Back in the day I used to spend hours diving/snorkeling, looking for crays, around that line of reefs off the northern Perth beaches.

A good area was near Little Island, out from Hillarys where you would often find sea lions sunning themselves. Sometimes they joined you in the water. White Pointers were never a consideration then.

little Island.PNG

Years later when the World Swimming Championships were being held in Perth, and just before the open water swim was due to start and finish in nearby Hilarys Marina, a Great White was seen feasting on a sea lion carcass near the Island. They went ahead with the swim, albeit with massive extra security.

I wouldn't swim there today, the stocks of large sharks has massively increased and they seem to frequent shallower waters these days. People are part of the diet.

Bugger the greenies, and the friends of the sharks, who never venture a toe in the sea, these monsters need to be culled!

People are not part of their diet.

Two dead in a week and no evidence the first shark spat out the first victim's leg.

If another boat hadn't been there to assist, the woman may well have been consumed also.

Many shark attack victims are never seen again, leading to the obvious conclusion they have been eaten.

I do agree however, that people would not normally be part of the diet of a fish, in the same way a lion or crocodile would not normal predate on man, but it does happen.

And, for whatever reason, be it degradation of habitat, overfishing of their normal prey or protection by law, these large animals are now more often sharing shallow coastal waters with people and occasionally killing them.

Since 2000 there has been something like 15 killed by sharks in Western Australian waters, More than in the previous 100 years. Quoting stats like, you're more likely to die falling out of bed, is not addressing the reality.

Something is different, something has changed with their behaviour, and I strongly believe there needs to be a cull of the bigger animals who cruise popular beaches. Telling everyone to stay out of the water doesn't cut it!

[Mosha]

Sharks eat meat, we're meat.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

[Humberstone]

Back in the day I used to spend hours diving/snorkeling, looking for crays, around that line of reefs off the northern Perth beaches.

A good area was near Little Island, out from Hillarys where you would often find sea lions sunning themselves. Sometimes they joined you in the water. White Pointers were never a consideration then.

little Island.PNG

Years later when the World Swimming Championships were being held in Perth, and just before the open water swim was due to start and finish in nearby Hilarys Marina, a Great White was seen feasting on a sea lion carcass near the Island. They went ahead with the swim, albeit with massive extra security.

I wouldn't swim there today, the stocks of large sharks has massively increased and they seem to frequent shallower waters these days. People are part of the diet.

Bugger the greenies, and the friends of the sharks, who never venture a toe in the sea, these monsters need to be culled!

People are not part of their diet.

Two dead in a week and no evidence the first shark spat out the first victim's leg.

If another boat hadn't been there to assist, the woman may well have been consumed also.

Many shark attack victims are never seen again, leading to the obvious conclusion they have been eaten.

I do agree however, that people would not normally be part of the diet of a fish, in the same way a lion or crocodile would not normal predate on man, but it does happen.

And, for whatever reason, be it degradation of habitat, overfishing of their normal prey or protection by law, these large animals are now more often sharing shallow coastal waters with people and occasionally killing them.

Since 2000 there has been something like 15 killed by sharks in Western Australian waters, More than in the previous 100 years. Quoting stats like, you're more likely to die falling out of bed, is not addressing the reality.

Something is different, something has changed with their behaviour, and I strongly believe there needs to be a cull of the bigger animals who cruise popular beaches. Telling everyone to stay out of the water doesn't cut it!

You cant' blame the sharks for acting out on their own instincts, even less if it is humans who have caused them to change behavior.

[Old Croc]

I'm not blaming sharks, they have very small brains in relation to their size and it's thought they don't

use reason, as we know it, to decide their actions.. Most of their skulls are dedicated to making their other

senses work at an extremely high level to assist with hunting.

I don't blame sharks for killing people in the same way I don't blame mosquitos for biting me, but there comes

a time when they become dangerous to our well being and must be culled from our shared environment,

even if we are the ones responsible for their changed behaviour.

Edited June 7, 2016 by Old Croc

[dick dasterdly]

Sharks (like humans) are apex predators.

As a diver, I never expect to be attacked by sharks - but then again I wouldn't dive in White shark/Bull shark territory.

If I was unlucky enough to be killed by a sea creature, it would be down to my being in a 'foreign' environment - certainly not the fault of the shark etc.

Edited June 7, 2016 by dick dasterdly

[dick dasterdly]

Actually, if there's one creature that needs to be culled - its us...

Not that I'm advocating this, as I would prefer not to be killed - even though I know a cull of humanity would be best for the sake of all other creatures and the planet .

Edited June 7, 2016 by dick dasterdly

[Prbkk]

These are mistake attacks. Sharks attack in response to movement and shape rather than sight or smell. They tend to have a nibble and spit it out when they attack a person. Sadly the nibble can be fatal. What is alarming is that some of the recent attacks have been in very shallow water, as in waist deep, adjacent to beaches. That is scary.