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Camera IconThe five-metre shark was spotted about 10.10am just 600m off the popular dog beach, raising immediate concern for the safety of those in the water. Credit: Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter<\/p>\nA large shark circling a group of five kayakers triggered an emergency evacuation at Hillarys Dog Beach, prompting authorities to issue a public warning amid a spike in shark activity along Perth\u2019s coast.<\/p>\n
The 5m shark was spotted by the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter crew just 600m off the popular dog beach about 10am on Wednesday, raising immediate concern for the safety of those in the water.<\/p>\n
It also prompted a warning from authorities to take extra care in the water, with several detections of white sharks on the WA coast in recent days as families flock to the beach for the school holidays and as the weather warms up.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the size of the shark and its proximity to the kayakers it was circling, the crew sounded the siren to alert beachgoers to the potential hazard,\u201d a Surf Life Saving WA spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn estimated 35 beach users (were) advised and\/or cleared from the water.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development also quickly issued a formal shark warning for water users, urging caution at northern metropolitan beaches.<\/p>\n
Camera IconThe five-metre shark was spotted about 10.10am just 600m off the popular dog beach, raising immediate concern for the safety of those in the water. Credit: Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter<\/p>\n
\u201cA shark warning has been issued for water users in the northern suburbs of the Perth metropolitan area for beaches, surf and dive spots between Scarborough and Ocean Reef after an increased number of tagged shark detections,\u201d the alert read.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been multiple white shark detections over the last three days.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is possible that the frequency of the recent tagged shark detections may increase the likelihood of encountering a shark in this area.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople should exercise additional caution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Play Video<\/p>\n
Great white shark circles kayakers off Hillarys<\/p>\n
Video IconGreat white shark circles kayakers off Hillarys<\/p>\n
The alarming incident follows a similar encounter over the weekend, when four kayakers were stalked by a great white shark off Hillarys on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Margaret Banks, Richard Lailey, Pel Turner and Wolfgang Wetzig were about a kilometre off the coast when the great white shark began circling their boats.<\/p>\n
Video of the encounter shows the shark coming close to the surface and swimming underneath them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw this dark shadow approaching me and thought, \u2018oh s… what is this?\u2019\u201d Mr Wetzig said.<\/p>\n
The apex predator wasn\u2019t aggressive, though, and was described as just \u201ccurious\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was swimming underneath the boat very close,\u201d Mr Wetzig said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen the dorsal fin was scratching the boat and you can feel the vibration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Banks said she felt \u201cvery vulnerable\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Camera IconThe alarming incident follows a similar encounter over the weekend. Credit: Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter<\/p>\n
\u201cYou realise how vulnerable you are in a kayak,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The group tied their four boats together to form a raft and radioed for help.<\/p>\n
\u201cPretty quickly we had a chopper overhead and a sea rescue boat there, but luckily the wind was pushing us towards the beach,\u201d Mr Turner said.<\/p>\n
Despite the terrifying close encounter, the kayakers say they have no plans to stay out of the water for long.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel excited, it was an adventure you only maybe see once in your lifetime,\u201d Mr Wetzig said.<\/p>\n
The Department has urged anyone planning to head out on the water to stay informed via the SharkSmart WA app or website, and to report any sightings immediately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A large shark circling a group of five kayakers triggered an emergency evacuation at Hillarys Dog Beach, prompting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[13110,90,5341,56,54,55,17285,4407],"class_list":{"0":"post-175289","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-perth","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-sharks","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom","14":"tag-wa-news","15":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}