{"id":605252,"date":"2026-09-19T11:34:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T11:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/605252\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T11:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T11:34:13","slug":"search-for-shark-and-swimmer-after-fatal-perth-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/605252\/","title":{"rendered":"Search for shark and swimmer after fatal Perth attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

A catch-and-kill order has been authorised for a large shark that fatally attacked a swimmer<\/a> off a popular West Australian beach.<\/p>\n

A search continues for the 63-year-old man who police confirmed died in the attack off Perth’s Sorrento Beach about 10.30am on Friday.<\/p>\n

Police confirmed he had not been found in an air and sea search on Friday or in a shoreline search on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

It is the second shark attack off WA’s coast in five days. <\/p>\n

WA Primary Industries Minister Jackie Jarvis told reporters on Saturday the government extended its condolences to the man’s family.<\/p>\n

“This is an incredibly sad and distressing incident and my thoughts are with everyone who knew and loved him,” she said.<\/p>\n

WA Police had requested the shark be captured and killed to assist with the recovery of coronial evidence, Jarvis said.<\/p>\n

“Given that the shark had been positively identified, remained in the vicinity following a fatal attack and was considered to pose an ongoing threat, I authorised fisheries officers to destroy the shark if it could be captured,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A shark fin in the water (file photo). (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n

Drumline capture gear would be deployed, Jarvis said, noting it would be difficult to catch a white shark more than 3m long.<\/p>\n

She said the government had a comprehensive shark mitigation program that was constantly reviewed but could never eliminate all risks for water users. <\/p>\n

“We will see what more we can do,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I cannot remove the risk of all apex predators in the ocean.”<\/p>\n

A witness told ABC News on Friday she was alerted to the attack when she was walking along the beach and saw a pool of blood in the water. <\/p>\n

The City of Joondalup closed all beaches in the area, from Burns Beach in the north to Marmion in the south, until midday on Saturday as a precaution. <\/p>\n

The fatality follows a shark attack on a surfer<\/a> at a remote WA beach on Monday. <\/p>\n

The man was seriously injured at Glenfield Beach, north of Geraldton in the state’s Mid West<\/p>\n

He was taken to the nearby Geraldton Health Campus and is in stable condition.<\/p>\n

Surf Lifesaving WA’s helicopter shark patrols began for summer last week.<\/p>\n

They will initially operate on weekends before becoming daily between Mandurah and Yanchep, and Rottnest Island to the west, from September 26 until the end of April.<\/p>\n

Patrol flights in WA’s southwest between Bunbury and Hamelin Bay will run daily during school holidays and peak summer periods, and on weekends and public holidays at other times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A catch-and-kill order has been authorised for a large shark that fatally attacked a swimmer off a popular…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1081,85,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-605252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-accident","tag-australia","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}