A 35-year-old diver died on Saturday after being bitten by a suspected 4.5m shark while spearfishing off Michaelmas Island in Western Australia, the latest fatal attack to put western australia shark cull calls back into focus. He had been in the water with family when the shark struck at 11:25 local time, or 03:25 GMT.
The man, who has not been named, was taken by boat to shore, where paramedics were unable to revive him. Police said they will prepare a report for the coroner, while the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development said it was helping police and local authorities with the incident and urged residents to report any shark sightings.
The death matters now because it comes less than a month after Steven Mattaboni, 38, died in a separate shark attack in Western Australia. Mattaboni was bitten by a 4m shark at Horseshoe Reef, north-west of Rottnest Island near Perth, a reminder that while shark attacks around Australia are more common than in many other parts of the world, they are often not fatal.
That does not make the latest case any less stark. Michaelmas Island sits south-east of Perth, and the fact pattern is still incomplete: authorities have not identified the species involved, and the final cause of death will be left to the coroner. For now, the focus is on the immediate response and on whether another fatal encounter will intensify pressure on Western Australia’s shark management measures in the days ahead.
