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September 19, 2026 \u2014 3:00am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n The government must step in and act as the rate of shark bites in WA increases \u201cyear-on-year\u201d a marine biologist has warned in the wake of the state\u2019s third fatal attack this year.<\/p>\n A man was \u201cmauled\u201d onlookers said, by a large shark while he was swimming<\/a> just 50 metres off Sorrento Beach, north-west of Perth on Friday morning.<\/p>\n Witnesses reported seeing the man be pulled below the surface repeatedly, before he disappeared. Lifesavers raced to rescue him but were unsuccessful in locating him.<\/p>\n His death comes three months after 35-year-old Daniel Turpin was killed by a 4.5 metre shark while spearfishing about 10 metres off the coast of Michaelmas Island in King George Sound, near Albany.<\/p>\n Weeks earlier Steven Mattaboni, 38, was bitten by a shark while spearfishing at Horseshoe Bay<\/a>, off the coast of Rottnest Island and earlier this week 56-year-old Mel Ismail survived an attack in Geraldton<\/a> while out surfing.<\/p>\n A marine biologist says climate change is driving a rise in shark attacks off WA\u2019s coast.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of changes going on in the ocean right now with the climate changing,\u201d Laurence Chlebeck from Humane World for Animals Australia told 9 News Perth.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that those sort of climate systems are having an impact on the oceans and that could be changing currents, changing where prey is available for animals like this. We just don\u2019t exactly know, but it\u2019s going to have an impact at some level.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article Chlebeck said WA could learn from other states if we want to make the water safer.<\/p>\n \u201cIn New South Wales, we\u2019ve seen a large investment in non-lethal alternatives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a whole new drone surveillance program. Queensland, another state where this kind of thing occurs, they\u2019re they\u2019re getting into the drone game as well, and it can be really, really effective. As long as you know the drone is in the air and providing that surveillance, it can give an extra eye in the sky.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not going to eliminate the risk completely, but for people that are using popular beaches during popular times on the weekends, school holidays, this can be a really effective added layer of surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n Hunting and killing a shark that has preyed on a person is not an effective way of tackling shark attacks going forward, Chlebeck said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s more of a retributive act rather than something that\u2019s going to effectively reduce the risk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cKilling animals, whether it\u2019s a cull to reduce the population, even that\u2019s not really going to help that much either because these animals that are complicit in these types of incidents are highly migratory and culling to reduce risk is predicated on an idea that you can reduce a local population.<\/p>\n \u201c[But] when these animals are travelling the entire length of the west coast of the continent, reducing a local population isn\u2019t going to do that much because there\u2019s constantly more animals moving in and out of that area.<\/p>\n \u201cOn top of that, the methods by which we would reduce a local population-fishing, netting, all of these things attract sharks and stimulate feeding behaviour. So we risk doing the exact opposite of what we\u2019re what we\u2019re setting out there to do.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Forensics](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/3cacb02a4df6570466d4ddda3559b5d3755e94f52af909c9daa3c3adf664dea2.jpeg\")
Forensics police and specialist detectives have now arrived at the scene and have taped off a section of the car park.Hannah Murphy<\/p>\n![\"Steven](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/db87971467105a144892e6fe0986322aa3046a3cfbdc5795dc1a04ff655294bc.jpeg\")
Steven Mattaboni was a prolific fisherman and participated in a number of initiatives to help recreational fishers.<\/p>\n![\"Jay](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/72fc3fb71040b75da44b82825f167306ea8b9d81.jpeg\")
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