A 16-year-old girl died on Saturday after being mauled. By a shark in a river in the Western Australian state capital of Perth. When she jumped into the water to swim with a pod of dolphins.
Police said they were called to the scene of the attack. On Saturday afternoon local time near. A traffic bridge over the Swan River in Perth’s Fremantle port area.
The girl was pulled from the water with critical injuries and died at the scene, police said in a statement.
Police believe the victim was with friends. And jumped off a jet ski to swim with a pod of dolphins in the river when the shark attacked.
Authorities are not sure what type of shark attacked the girl. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said.
People in the Swan River around Fremantle are being urged to take extra precautions in the wake of the mauling.
The last fatal attack in Western Australian waters was in November 2021. When a 57-year-old man was killed by a great white shark at Port Beach, Perth.
In January 2021 a man was injured by a bull shark while swimming in the Swan River.
With more than 100 species of sharks inhabiting the waters of Western Australia. The country’s largest state, bull sharks are often found many miles upstream.
The risk of shark attacks in the state is low, according to the state government. Which has established a dedicated shark response unit to work with first responders to shark incidents.
On the east coast, several Sydney beaches, including iconic Bondi. And Bronte, were closed after a swimmer died in a attack last February. The first such fatality on the city’s beaches in 60 years.
According to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File. Australia was second only to the United States in the number of fatal bites on humans in 2021.
