Albany beach reopens after tiger shark detection
Middleton Beach has been reopened after a shark was detected earlier this afternoon.
City of Albany rangers closed Middleton Beach after a tagged tiger shark was detected by a satellite-linked receiver at Ellen Cove.
According to Surf Life Saving WA, the tiger shark was detected about 400m off Middleton Beach just after 1pm today.
The City has advised swimmers should avoid the beach until further notice.
While a Department of Fisheries spokesman said the Department did not specify sizes of tagged sharks, as a general rule they were larger than 3m.
“All tagged sharks should be treated as potentially dangerous,” he said.
Last April, a 5m white pointer, believed to be the largest tagged in Australian waters, was detected by the Ellen Cove receiver six times in one hour.
In State Parliament last September, Premier Colin Barnett claimed a large white shark had been detected by the receiver 150 times.
Two Albany beaches were fitted with the monitors in 2013 – the other is located at Whalers Beach.
Last week, Albany fisherman Brendan Hilder caught a 4m tiger shark at Shelley Beach, landing it with a hand-reel before it was released.
