Overview
- A man in his 30s who was spearfishing was fatally bitten by an approximately 4.5-metre shark off Michaelmas Island, with rescuers unable to revive him after Saturday's attack.
- Emergency services recovered the victim, paramedics tried resuscitation on shore, and police identified spearfishing as the activity the diver was undertaking when he was attacked.
- The Western Australia Department of Agriculture and Regional Development has urged people to exercise increased vigilance and to monitor local shark sighting reports.
- The Michaelmas Island death is the fourth fatal shark attack in Australia so far this year and the second in Western Australia, following recent fatalities off Rottnest Island and in Queensland.
- Australian scientists say warming ocean temperatures and a rise in coastal water users may be shifting shark movements, which could increase encounters and prompt wider safety warnings and local changes to beach access.