A 35-year-old man went spearfishing with his family off Michaelmas Island near Albany on Western Australia's south coast. Before noon on Saturday, a large shark attacked him. His family brought him back to Albany by boat, but paramedics could not save him after working on him for more than two hours.
This death is the third fatal shark attack in about four weeks. All three victims were spearfishers. On May 24, a 39-year-old man died off Queensland near the Great Barrier Reef. About a week earlier, a 38-year-old man was killed near Rottnest Island after being bitten by a white shark. If you count a 12-year-old boy who died in Sydney Harbour in January, this is Australia's fourth shark fatality in 2026.
Australia normally has about three shark-attack deaths per year. The country has already passed that number, and it is only June. Spearfishing is considered higher-risk than swimming or surfing because speared fish and blood in the water attract large predators. Scientists say two long-term changes are causing this: more people using coastal waters and rising ocean temperatures that change where sharks swim. In the weeks following the attack, Western Australian authorities urged people to take extra caution and monitor shark sightings in the area.