Teen killed in great white shark attack in Australia
A teenager has been killed in a shark attack near Albany, Western Australia.
Jay Muscat, 17, was spearfishing with a friend at Three Stripes Beach, an area off Cheynes Beach, about 70km east of Albany, at 12.20pm on Monday when the attack occurred.
Department of Fisheries director Rick Fletcher said it was believed to be a great white shark because of the size of the injuries on the 17-year-old's leg.
He said the pair had been fishing for some time before the attack, and their catch could "potentially" have attracted the shark
It is believed Mr Muscat's friend saw the shark and fired a shot from his spear gun at the animal.
Speaking to Perth Now, he said: "Based on the reports and the advice we had about the injury it appears that it was a very large shark, probably 4m to 5m and probably a white shark.
"It appears that the shark swam past one diver and bit the other on the leg which resulted in fatal injuries to the diver.
"It is possible that the shark was injured during the attack, therefore what we're going to do is do patrols on the beach as well.
"This is obviously an extremely tragic event for all the families involved and our sympathies go out to those particular families."
Fisheries boats are searching the area for the shark and drumlines were also deployed.
According to the Guardian, the mayor of Albany shire, Dennis Wellington, said the two boys were 40 metres off shore and were fishing while free-diving.
He said: "There was a report of a white pointer around that place earlier and one fisherman tried to warn the others.
"Unfortunately it appears he was too late."
Earlier this month, a teenager was killed by a shark while spearfishing on a reef off Port Douglas in Queensland, Australia.
Daniel Smith, 18, had gone fishing with friends at Rudder Reef. The group tried to perform CPR on him while frantically trying to get him back to shore, but he was pronounced dead when they arrived back at Port Douglas.
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