The search for a 63-year-old swimmer who was fatally attacked by a shark off Sorrento Beach in Perth is continuing, with the man’s body still not found.
Emergency services were called to the popular West Australian beach at about 10.30am on Friday after reports that a man had been bitten while swimming along the coast.
WA Police confirmed on Saturday that the man died in the attack. An air and sea search on Friday, followed by a search along the shoreline on Saturday morning, failed to locate him.
A Water Police vessel will remain in the area, while the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development investigates the incident.
A witness said she became aware of the attack while walking along the beach and saw a pool of blood in the water.
The City of Joondalup closed all beaches from Burns Beach in the north to Marmion in the south until midday on Saturday as a precaution.
The fatal attack was the second reported off Western Australia’s coast in five days. A surfer was seriously injured by a shark at remote Glenfield Beach, north of Geraldton, on Monday and was later described as being in a stable condition at Geraldton Health Campus.
Surf Life Saving WA began its helicopter shark patrols for summer last week. The patrols will initially operate at weekends before running daily between Mandurah and Yanchep, and around Rottnest Island, from September 26 until the end of April.
In the state’s south-west, flights between Bunbury and Hamelin Bay will operate daily during school holidays and peak summer periods, and at weekends and on public holidays at other times.
