A routine morning off western Australia turned deadly when a great white shark killed a man near Rottnest Island, authorities said.
Police said the 38-year-old was attacked shortly before 10am local time in waters off the island, near Perth.
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“Sadly, the man was unable to be revived,” Western Australia police said.
The state’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development said the victim had been bitten by a 4m long great white.
The death marks Western Australia’s first fatal shark attack since March last year, when a surfer was mauled at a remote beach.
Australia has recorded nearly 1,300 shark incidents since 1791, with more than 260 proving fatal, according to a national database tracking encounters between sharks and humans.
Before today, the most recent fatal attack was in January, when a 12-year-old boy was killed by a shark in Sydney Harbour.
That incident came amid a cluster of four shark attacks over two days, leading officials to shut down dozens of beaches across the city.
It was the third shark-related death recorded in Sydney in recent years.
Australian scientists say a combination of busier coastal waters and rising ocean temperatures is altering sharks’ migratory patterns, a shift that may be helping drive an increase in attacks.
