A woman has died after being attacked by a shark reportedly bigger than 5.3 metres off the Perth coast, less than a week after Ben Gerring was mauled near Mandurah.
The woman, 60, was diving about two kilometres off the northern suburb of Mindarie with her 43-year-old diving partner when she was attacked late on Sunday morning.
Three men who were heading out on a fishing trip came to the pair's aid before the woman's companion retrieved her body from the water, between One and Three Mile Reefs.
The woman is believed to have died from her injuries before arriving back at the Mindarie boat ramp near Alexandria Drive shortly before 12pm.
Police Inspector Danny Mulligan said the fishermen had reported seeing a large shark.
"The boat that was in the water was 5.3 metres long, and they say that the shark was longer than their boat," he said.
Inspector Mulligan said the woman's partner had felt "something go past him" while he was diving.
"When he surfaced he saw a commotion in the water and then another boat arrived to pull him out of the water, and then it was noticed that the lady had suffered some severe and fatal injuries," he said.
"The other boat that was in the water got between the male diver and the shark, and he was able to get back into his own boat and he was able to pull the lady from the water."
He said the pair "regularly dived together in this area".
The Department of Fisheries (DoF) said it was treating the incident as a fatal shark attack, and said it had set three drum lines in the area to fish for the shark.
Earlier, Surf Life Saving WA (SLSWA) sent a tweet at 11:35am saying an unknown species of shark had been sighted 1 kilometre off Mindarie Beach, and there had been a "possible shark interaction".
Local surfer Matthew MacDonald said the woman's diving partner also appeared to be hurt.
"His hand was like taped up, I didn't think anything else was injured," he said.
The City of Wanneroo has closed beaches either side of the Mindarie boat ramp, south from Claytons Beach and Surf Spot and north to Quinns Beach.
The beaches will remain closed on Monday.
Second fatal shark attack in WA in a week
It is the second fatal shark attack in WA in the space of six days.
The following day a 4.2 metre shark was caught on a baited hook nearby, although the DoF said it was not possible to tell if the animal was responsible.
Mr Gerring was the 13th person to die from a confirmed shark attack in WA since 2000.
There was renewed debate even before his death and the events off Mindarie about the State Government's shark policy, with ministers having elected to place drum lines off Perth beaches in 2013 in response to seven shark deaths.
Premier Colin Barnett last week ruled out a return to permanent drum lines off beaches, but said the Government would continue to hunt and trap sharks it believed were a threat to swimmers.
The State Opposition said it was opposed to catching and killing sharks.
The ocean is the sharks home. Everyone must remember that. We as humans cannot just go and kill any animal that inadvertently mistakes humans for food.
Humans are an arrogant and selfish species and when something disrupts our day or agenda; we simply kill it or cut it down.
Barnett: Drum lines kill the sharks; small and large. Tagging does not.
If Barnett and Buswell had let OCEARCH come in and tag as many as possible; then the general public could see if any sharks are in the area that they choose to dive or surf in.
That is 24/7 'real time' monitoring by OCEARCH, not the current WA monitoring system. Western Australias monitoring tagging system is that of a beacon and is not in 'real time' until the shark swims within beacon range. So if you checked shark 'pings' earlier and saw nothing, that may not be the case when you venture out to sea. With OCEARCH, you know then and there, how far away, size and depth of the tagged shark.
I guess humans will not be happy until all animals are projected as holograms to encompass our inquiring minds for our daily,but safe,viewing pleasure.
I commented about sharks, their residency, the BS Propaganda that the Premiere had said, to calm the masses, "We're almost certain we caught the shark that did this."
Catch This!
By: Rowan Cocoan (Re SURFER leg loss matter:
A surfer is in a critical condition after a shark bit off his leg at a beach in Western Australia. Ben Gerring, 29, was in the water near Mandurah, south of Perth, when the attack occurred. The...
)
Catch This!
As a lifetime surfer here - the sharkbite capital of the world, no less* - I, like all surfers around here, have had nearly countless scary shark encounters that I was aware of.** An ‘assumed risk’ is the term. Besides, they’ve got more right to be there.
So after this attack, the Aussie government sets up shark traps (a baited side of beef attached to 55 gallon barrels.)
Anyhow, one of their traps had a hit, caught a big Great White, and the Australian Premiere announces that “ 'we're almost certain’ we caught the ‘culprit’ shark. Here's the info: “Shark attack: Premier Colin Barnett Says It’s Highly Likely Shark Caught Was Responsible for Attack” at this link: [Link]
Now we’ve all heard of the things found in sharks’ bellies over the years. What is strange about this is the announcement that WITHIN 24 hours, the Aussie Premier assures all the tourists et al, that 'we're almost certain’ we caught the culprit shark. So, me wonders, first, how it is that they don’t know for certain?
So, of course, to make certain, of course, they hauled up the 4.2 meter Great White, and opened up its belly, right? It damn sure sounds like the thing SWALLOWED his leg and it’s only 24 hours later so parts would certainly still be there. But DID they do that? Sure seems otherwise as it's not mentioned and would be had they done that and FOUND a leg. BUT NO! They towed out it out to sea and gave it the standard ‘fake OBL sea-grave’ technique!!! Say what??? True! To quote from above linked article, “The shark was towed out to sea and dumped after samples and measurements were taken.”
1. So what happens when the REAL shark is hooked on another barrel-bunch-bait? {
2. Does the government and/or press have to either lie or give too little information ALL the time?
R.C.
* While the East Coast of Florida has the most, we certainly don’t have the most deadly attacks, which ‘titles’ go to South Africa, Australia and Hawaii. I’ve spent over three years surfing about 6 days a week in California and only saw one 4 foot dogfish.
** And for every shark I’ve seen swim within 20 feet of me, I’ve probably had three times that many below me which I never saw.
RC
ADDED RE DIVER DEATH:
[NOTE THE OVERT LIE: AS PER MY EARLIER ABOVE QUOTES AND QUESTIONS ABOUT GOV/MSM LIES: FOR HERE WE NOW ABOVE READ RE THAT SURFER....."The following day a 4.2 metre shark was caught on a baited hook nearby, although the DoF said it was NOT POSSIBLE to tell if the animal was responsible." [YEAH, CAUSE THEY TOWED IT TO SEA AND DUMPED IT A LA 'OBL'. Again, no comment about the 'almost certain it was the culprit' shark' LIE by the PM.]
THE THREE STORIES' CONTRADICTIONS
1) PROVE THE P.M. WAS A LYING SACK O' SH*T AND THE MSM DID NOTHING TO NOTHING TO CALL HIM ON IT! (After surfer leg loss, before this diver death.)
2)NOR DO THEY NOW POINT OUT THAT PREVIOUS LIE IN THE ABOVE ARTICLE. ARGH!]
Humans are an arrogant and selfish species and when something disrupts our day or agenda; we simply kill it or cut it down.
Barnett: Drum lines kill the sharks; small and large. Tagging does not.
If Barnett and Buswell had let OCEARCH come in and tag as many as possible; then the general public could see if any sharks are in the area that they choose to dive or surf in.
That is 24/7 'real time' monitoring by OCEARCH, not the current WA monitoring system. Western Australias monitoring tagging system is that of a beacon and is not in 'real time' until the shark swims within beacon range. So if you checked shark 'pings' earlier and saw nothing, that may not be the case when you venture out to sea. With OCEARCH, you know then and there, how far away, size and depth of the tagged shark.
I guess humans will not be happy until all animals are projected as holograms to encompass our inquiring minds for our daily,but safe,viewing pleasure.