Shark attacks: Australian Shark-Incident Database tracking the surge in shark attacks across Australia and WA

The news story in The West Australian on shark attacks detailed a tragedy.

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“News of a shark attack spreads and then lingers in the collective memory. When businessman Ken Crew and another swimmer were attacked by a 4.5m white pointer off North Cottesloe Beach early on a November morning in 2000, Perth was transfixed.

“Another swimmer, Brian Farley, who later received the Star of Courage, risked his life trying to save Mr Crew, 49. As he dragged the fatally wounded father-of-three to shore, he was shielded by three lifesavers on surf skis, who were also awarded Bravery Medals for their efforts.

“Mr Crew died shortly after being dragged from the surf. Dirk Avery, 53, managed to escape with gashes to his lower legs and feet. Before Mr Crew’s death, the last fatal shark attack in WA was off Point Moore, 2km west of Geraldton, in January 1997.

“German tourist Werner Schonhofer, 41, disappeared while windsurfing. Days later, part of his shredded wetsuit was found in waters a few kilometres north of Geraldton,” the story read.

Published in February 2002, the story was accompanied by a graphic of a shark superimposed over an outline map of WA above a list of fatal shark attacks. It listed 11 fatalities since 1803.

But how the number of shark encounters has rapidly risen since the attack on Mr Crew seemingly signalled the start of different times, is made clear by a database now publicly available — the Australian Shark-Incident Database.

The database is a joint partnership between Taronga Conservation Society Australia, along with Flinders University and the NSW Department of Primary Industries, and is the work of Taronga team members since 1984.

It includes more than 1100 individual investigations of shark-bite cases in Australia.

Professor Charlie Huveneers, Flinders University shark ecologist and co-author of the study, said before 1984, records of shark-bite incidents dating back to 1791 were collated by the founder of the database, John West, using historical media reports, books, government reports, victim and witness accounts.

The database was now updated as close to the time of the incident as possible, using media reports followed up by Taronga with a questionnaire sent to either the victim, a witness, or the relevant State department responsible for fisheries.

The data was reviewed and information validated before being entered on the database.

Phoebe Meagher, manager of the database, said the questionnaire asked for information on environmental conditions, distance from shore, what the victim was wearing and victim’s activity.

The team also worked with forensic scientists to validate shark species through bite analysis, and analysed any video footage or photographs available.

The database details are comprehensive, including the month and year of the incident, condition of the person involved, location including descriptions such as whether it took place in the open ocean, near the coast, in an estuary or river, the type of shark, whether the incident was “provoked” or “unprovoked”, and what the person was doing, for example swimming, diving, snorkelling, spearfishing or boarding.

Dr Meagher said Australia had the second-highest number of total bites globally, which had risen from an average of nine bites a year from 1990–2000 to 22 bites a year from 2010–2020.

NSW had most recorded incidents, followed by Queensland and WA — which had 200 recorded incidents, or nearly 17 per cent of all incidents.

White sharks accounted for most bites in WA. Of the incidents recorded in WA, 33 had been fatal.

WA followed a trend of increasing shark bite incidents reported, with the yearly average from 1990 to 2000 being 1.5; 2001 to 2009 being four and 2010-2020 being six.

This trend could be attributed to a range of factors including increasing human population and more people in the water, but may have environmental factors as well.

“The increasing ability to share information and photos through social media and everyone now having a camera in their pockets means there is also an increase in the ability to share shark bite incidents which may account for an increase in recorded cases as well,” Dr Meagher said.

Professor Huveneers said the data also showed an increasing proportion of bites on people surfing or bodyboarding.

“This is likely due to the concurrent increase in the number of surfers compared to other activities.,” he said. “The reasons for the overall increase in the number of shark bites in Australia is challenging to determine scientifically, but is unlikely to be linked to only one factor.

“A combination of reasons likely contributes to the increased number of shark bites, including a growing human population spending more time doing water-based activities and recovering shark populations or changes in shark occurrences along the coast.”

He said the data could lead to better understanding of trends in sharks bites and help predict the likelihood of a shark bite.

It could also help policy makers and ocean users make informed decisions about most appropriate shark-bite mitigation measures.

WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s director, aquatic science and assessment, Dan Gaughan, said DPIRD’s Shark Response Unit and science team supported the collection of data for the Australian Shark Incident Database.

DPIRD regularly provided tissue samples of any tagged white sharks to a team of CSIRO and South Australian researchers to support their work conducting population estimates for white sharks using innovative close-kin genetic research. The next population assessment was expected to be conducted in 2025.

The department said DPIRD’s primary focus was the protection of WA ocean users through the prevention of shark-related incidents.

“Our shark mitigation strategy is one of the most comprehensive approaches in the country, with a range of tools and actions to help keep ocean users and our coastal communities as safe as possible.” a spokesperson said.

“In May 2021, the State Government committed a further $5 million for shark mitigation, including increased funding for DPIRD’s highly effective targeted shark tagging program, upgrades to the Shark Monitoring Network, support for beach enclosures and the continuation of the world first personal shark deterrent rebate scheme.

“DPIRD’s white shark tagging program, supporting the Shark Monitoring Network, has tagged 152 white sharks in WA waters since 2009.”

“A further $12 million allocation in the 2021 State Budget is providing funding to Surf Life Saving WA to 2024/25 for the delivery of comprehensive beach and aerial patrols, integrated communication systems and jet ski response teams.”