More sharks seen near fatal spot
Sharks were sighted twice in recent days near the area of last week’s fatal attack at Cheyne Beach, not long after a catch-and-kill order for the animal was rescinded.
According to Surf Life Saving WA, the public reported a 4m unknown species of shark at 1.31pm on Sunday, about 30m offshore at Cheyne Beach, and there was also a sighting about 25m offshore just after midday last Friday.
The reports followed calls for the public to officially notify sightings after a shark was seen in waters off Cheyne Beach several times but went unreported in the days before Albany teenager Jay Muscat was attacked and killed.
Today, the community will farewell the popular 17-year-old with a funeral at Middleton Beach, where friends, family and others who knew him will look out over the ocean while remembering the joy Jay brought to their lives.
Jay died last Monday after he was attacked by a shark while spearfishing with a mate at Three Stripes, near Cheyne Beach — a pastime he had undertaken many times.
The Department of Fisheries immediately launched a hunt for the 4m killer shark, but with no sightings from three days of patrolling and deploying drum lines, their catch-and-kill order was rescinded late last week.
Department of Fisheries acting director-general Dr Rick Fletcher said there were no plans to resume attempts to catch the shark, but urged all sightings to be reported so relevant authorities, including rangers and Surf Life Saving WA, could act.
“We ask that all shark sightings be reported to Water Police on 9442 8600,” he said.
Albany Surf Life Saving Club president Celia Waugh reinforced the message, saying Jay’s death was a tragedy and it was imperative all shark sightings were reported, but conceded some south coast beaches were isolated and hard to monitor.
“Technology is getting better,” she said. “Everybody should take a bit of care and report anything. The system isn’t foolproof, though, we can’t look after every beach.”
Fisheries updated its Sharksmart website in November so it now records all shark sightings, not just detections of tagged sharks, with reported sightings mapped on the website within minutes and a tweet alert sent from the Surf Life Saving WA’s Twitter account.
However, the system relies on the public properly reporting sightings so updates can be reported and alerts issued.
There were reports of a white shark in the Cheyne Beach area 90 minutes before Jay’s attack, and also on the previous Saturday near Three Stripes, but neither was officially reported to the Department of Fisheries.
A large shark was also spotted by a visiting family off Cheyne Beach on Boxing Day, but it also went unreported.
