Shark sightings reaching almost 90 incidents have been reported in Western Australia over the past week, according to local sources. The growing threat poses the risk of increased shark attacks to swimmers, surfers, and beachgoers in the state, where local officials had imposed several measures such as beach closures and shark monitoring efforts.
Western Australia Shark Sightings
A fisheries boat patrols the site of a fatal shark attack off Little Bay Beach in Sydney on February 17, 2022, as authorities deployed baited lines to try to catch a giant great white shark that devoured an ocean swimmer, the city's first such attack in decades.
In the past week, at least 88 sharks have been observed between Jurien Bay and Esperance, which includes a 4-meter great white shark seen 500 meters offshore near Michaelmas Reef in Albany last Thursday, January 12, as reported by PerthNow, Perth and Western Australia's leading news outlet.
The sightings include the tiger shark sighting near swimmers at Whifords beach in Hillarys last Friday, January 13, which led to the closure of the nearby Mullaloo beach. In separate incidents, Mullaloo and Bunker Bay in the South West region were also closed earlier last week before Friday due to multiple shark sightings.
Experts believe that sharks are getting closer to the shoreline and to beachgoers due to changing environment along the food web. In particular, both natural and human-induced factors like rising temperatures and overfishing are causing the predators' prey to migrate. In addition, research has shown that ocean warming caused by the climate crisis is causing sharks move away from the depths.
Dr. Leonardo Guida, a shark scientist at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, told "Millsy and Karl on 6PR Breakfast" that around 1 in 7 sharks in Australia currently facing extinction, as cited by Australia's 6PR news.
2022 Sydney Shark Attack
In 2022, there have been 15 shark bites recorded in Australia, including zero provoked attacks and 1 fatality, according to the shark monitoring site Tracking Sharks.
The victim of the fatal shark attack was identified as a British man, in an incident which will be known as the Sydney shark attack, which also went viral on social media due to a video that surfaced showing that man's floating half-eaten body.
It was February 2022 when British expat and diving instructor Simon Nellist, 35, went into Little Bay when he was killed by a 3-meter great white shark during afternoon hours.
Global Related Incidents
Australia is one of the shark hotspots in the world where a number of both shark sightings and encounters have been reported in its coastline in recent years. There have also been incidents of fatal incidents involving unsuspecting human victims and different shark species during what is believed by many to be unprovoked shark attacks, leading to beach closures, search operations, and other measures.
In Australia, there is a total of 12 unprovoked shark incidents recorded across the country in 2021, according to the International Shark Attack File of the Florida Museum. Includes in this figure, six shark bites occurred in New South Wales, two of which were fetal. Four bites occurred in Western Australia, where one is fatal. Lastly, single related incidents each occurred in Queensland and Victoria.
Furthermore, related incidents have been recorded worldwide, according to the said shark incident database. The US has recorded the highest number of most unprovoked shark bites in 2021, with 47 confirmed cases with one fatality. The North American country is followed by Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, and New Caledonia on the list.
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