35-year-old spearfisher attacked by shark while with family

A 35-year-old man died after a shark attacked him while he was spearfishing with family off Michaelmas Island near Albany, Western Australia, on Saturday morning. Police said he was taken ashore by boat and could not be revived. Authorities also said a 4.5-metre shark was seen near the island, a nature reserve about 388 kilometres south of Perth.

The death came after two other fatal attacks in the previous three weeks. A 38-year-old spearfisher was killed off Rottnest Island on May 16, and a 39-year-old man died at Kennedy Shoal on May 24. Marine ecologist Jessica Meeuwig said warming oceans push marine megafauna toward cooler waters, while researchers tracking bull sharks say the species is spending longer in southern waters as temperatures rise. In the Queensland attack, fishers reported bull sharks had been seen in the area before the strike, and one operator said the sharks were competing with the fishermen.

The pattern points less to panic than to a collision of human activity and changing ocean conditions. Reuters noted that Australia sees about 20 shark attacks a year and that most are not fatal, while ABC data showed 23 shark bite incidents in 2025, five of them deadly. Gregory Sharp, a commercial fisherman in Albany, said larger sharks are common in the area this time of year as they chase sardines and salmon, especially around seal-rich waters. For coastal communities, the practical response is tighter attention to sightings, seasonal fish movements and closure notices, not louder fear.