Shark Attacks Claim Multiple Lives in Australia... Authorities Order Killing of Shark

Three Fatalities in Western Australia This Year
"Other Sharks Are Not Subject to Culling"

As a series of fatal shark attacks have occurred in Western Australia (WA), local authorities have taken the unusual step of issuing an order to capture and kill the shark responsible.

According to Australia’s public broadcaster ABC and the UK’s BBC on the 20th (local time), at around 10:15 a.m. on the 18th, a 63-year-old man was fatally bitten by a great white shark while swimming at Sorrento Beach, a popular site in Perth, the capital of WA.

On the 18th (local time), after a fatal shark attack at the beach in Perth, the capital of Western Australia (WA), police boats and helicopters are searching for the shark. Photo by AP Yonhap News

The man was swimming near the shore with a friend when he was attacked and killed by the shark. ABC reported that, as of now, the body has not been found.

One witness said, "Two men were swimming, but only one returned to the shore," adding, "I saw a lot of blood spreading in the water." Another witness recounted seeing the shark attack the victim, "tossing him around as if handling a fish."

The shark responsible is believed to be a large great white shark. At the time of the incident, multiple citizens reported sightings of a shark measuring approximately 2.5 meters in length. This tragedy marked the second shark attack incident in WA this week, and the third shark-related fatality in WA this year. On the 14th, a surfer in his 50s was seriously injured by a shark at Glenfield Beach in Geraldton, about 430 kilometers from Perth. The last time three people in a single year died from shark attacks in WA was in 2020.

In connection to the recent fatal attack, Jackie Jarvis, WA Minister for Fisheries, stated that, on the previous day, the WA Marine Police spotted a shark and "positively identified it as the shark involved in the incident," directing authorities to capture and kill it. Minister Jarvis explained that this "unusual" decision considered both the exceptional circumstances of the attack and the risk posed by the shark. She added, "To my knowledge, this is the first shark destruction order to be given in WA in 10 years." However, she clarified that the kill order applies exclusively to the specific shark involved in the incident. Jarvis stressed, "The great white shark is internationally protected," adding that it would not be appropriate to cull all great white sharks beyond the individual in question.

Authorities have deployed floating drum lines in the ocean as part of efforts to catch the shark, temporarily closed a 12-kilometer stretch of prominent Perth beaches, and mobilized police boats and helicopters to locate the animal. They also announced plans to expand the use of drones for surveillance and to attach tracking devices to sharks to protect beachgoers.

According to the Australian Shark-Incident Database, an average of 20 people are injured and 2.8 are killed by shark attacks annually in Australia over the past 10 years. The frequency of attacks on humans has been increasing, driven by changes in shark migration patterns such as rising sea temperatures due to climate change.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.