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The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-09-19 · by Rebecca Peppiatt
Western Australian Fisheries Minister Jackie Jarvis has authorized the destruction of a white shark responsible for fatally attacking a 63-year-old swimmer at Sorrento Beach on Friday. The shark was positively identified by water police near where the attack occurred, prompting authorities to take what Jarvis described as an "extraordinary step" due to the animal's proximity and perceived ongoing threat. Beaches in the area remain closed while fisheries officers attempt to capture and destroy the shark for potential coronial evidence.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-19,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On Friday, around 10:15am local time, emergency services responded to reports of a suspected shark attack at Sorrento Beach north of Perth. Three ambulance crews and police were dispatched to the scene after a witness reported seeing blood in the water and a large shark in the vicinity. A male swimmer was reportedly bitten by a shark while swimming about 50 meters off the beach; he has not been seen since, raising concerns that he may have succumbed to his injuries. Witnesses described seeing significant amounts of blood in the water and said multiple shark patrols had been initiated for the summer season just days earlier. The popular beach was subsequently closed to swimmers as authorities conducted a search without success. This incident follows another fatal shark attack near Geraldton about 400 kilometers north of Perth earlier in the week, highlighting increased risks for swimmers along Western Australia's coast.
Written for “Shark Attack Off Perth Beach” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 24 other(s) covering the same event.
The shark that killed a 63-year-old swimmer at Sorrento Beach on Friday will be caught and destroyed, in what Fisheries minister Jackie Jarvis said was “an extraordinary step”.
asserted
Jarvis → kill → Friday
The man was swimming “very close to shore” when he was witnessed being pulled under water by a large white shark at approximately 10.30am on Friday.
asserted
he → swim → Friday
Lifesavers raced to rescue the man but were unsuccessful in locating him.
asserted
Lifesavers → race → him
A witness told this masthead there was blood in the water, while the swimmer who had accompanied the victim had to be consoled by rescuers once he got to shore.
asserted
he → tell → shore
On Saturday morning Jarvis said it was “an incredibly sad and distressing incident” before saying the shark was later located by water police and “positively identified as the shark involved in the incident”.
asserted
shark → say → incident
“WA police requested that the shark be captured to assist with the recovery of potential coronial evidence,” she said.
asserted
she → request → evidence
“Given 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.”
uncertain
it → give → shark
Jarvis said the circumstances of the attack were “exceptional” and that the rare catch and kill order was carefully considered, weighing up the safety of water police and fisheries officers involved in recovery efforts and the response to the incident.
asserted
order → say → incident
“Capture gear was deployed by fisheries officers yesterday,” she said.
asserted
she → deploy → officers
“However, at this stage, the shark has not been captured.
asserted
shark → capture → stage
A WA Police water police vessel remains on the water today.
asserted
vessel → remain → water
Police conducted a search of the shoreline this morning, and beaches in the area remain closed.”
asserted
beaches → conduct → area
Jarvis said the shark was not one of around 300 tagged sharks in WA waters before claiming the state has a comprehensive shark mitigation program.
asserted
state → say → program
“We will never be able to mitigate all of the threats,” she said.
asserted
she → mitigate → threats
“And people make an informed decision when they go into the water because it was so close to the shore, because of the circumstances, and because we were able to identify the shark, is why I have taken somewhat extraordinary step to issue a catch and kill authorisation for this shark.”
asserted
I → make → shark
She said the government’s shark mitigation plan had been added to in recent years with the inclusion of beach emergency number signs, increased tagging efforts and the SharkSmart app.
asserted
plan → say → signs
“Of course, we will regularly review this, and we’ll see what more we can do,” she said.
asserted
she → review → more
“I cannot remove the risk of of all apex predators in the ocean, but we want to make sure the public have as much information as possible, and we will of course review what we’re doing and seeing if we can do more.”
asserted
we → remove → more
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