Great white shark kills spearfishing diver: “Horrific event”
Why do shark attacks happen and how common are they? 06:41
A shark fatally mauled a diver off Australia’s tourist island on Saturday, police said, marking the country’s second fatal shark attack so far this year.
Western Australia Police Sergeant Michael Wear said the 38-year-old man was spearfishing with friends when he was attacked on a coral reef off Rottnest Island off Australia’s south-west coast.
“Friends witnessed the terrible incident” wear said.
Wear said the victim was near a dive boat when he was bitten on the legs. He was then taken by boat 1,100 yards to the island, where paramedics were unable to resuscitate him.
Lifeguards reported seeing a 16-metre white shark in the vicinity before the attack, and the state’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development told AFP the man had been bitten by a great white.
Authorities did not release the victim’s name, but he was identified by Australian Broadcasting Corporation family members as Steven Mattaboni. reported.
Mattaboni’s wife, Shirene, said the family was “irrevocably heartbroken.”
“Steven was a devoted father to our two beautiful daughters, one of whom turns three next month, and our four-month-old baby,” he said in a statement.
One social media postWestern Australian Premier Roger Cook described the shark attack as “extremely distressing” and thanked first responders and emergency personnel for their efforts.
“This is a devastating time for everyone involved,” Cook said.
The attack was the first shark death in Australia since January. 12 year old boy died He is in hospital just days after being mauled by a bull shark in Sydney Harbour. The attack that caused the child’s death was one of them. four recorded in two daysThis led authorities to close dozens of the city’s beaches.
A shark in November killed a woman and, in a rare example of the predator attacking two people, severely injured a man on the beach of a national park on Australia’s east coast.
Rottnest Island’s last fatal shark attack occurred in 2011 and a 32-year-old diver lost his life.
Australia has averaged more than three fatal shark attacks per year in recent years.
There have been nearly 1,300 shark encounters in Australia since 1791, with more than 260 of them resulting in death, according to a database of predator encounters with humans.
Australian scientists believe increasingly crowded waters and rising ocean temperatures are affecting sharks’ migration patterns, which may be contributing to an increase in attacks.
