Catch-and-destroy order issued for “20-foot” Great White shark that killed Perth swimmer

"The numbers are now at a level where people will be attacked on busy beaches in front of family, friends and kids."

With perverse regularity, Australian swimmers, surfers and divers have been getting slugged by Great Whites, listed as an endangered species for almost thirty years, with little appetite from either the public or State to do much except throw millions at little birds in the sky.

Yesterday, beachgoers were given ringside seats to a Great White at work when it thrashed hell out of a swimmer at Perth’s Sorrento Beach, “throwing him around like a fish” and disappearing with the corpse.

Witnesses reported, “I’m a nurse, so I mean I obviously see a lot of gruesome stuff, but to see somebody being mauled to death in the water in front of me is pretty hard to clock.”

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The attack was the sixteenth fatal attack by a Great White shark in WA since 2010. RIP: Nick Edwards, Kyle Burden, George Wainwright, Peter Kurmann, Ben Linden, Chris Boyd, Jay Muscat, Ben Gerring, Doreen Collyer, Laeticia Brouwer, Gary Johnson, Andrew Sharpe, Paul Millachip, Steven Payne, Daniel Turpin, Steve Mattaboni and, yesterday, the unknown swimmer.

Names faded on urns and tombstones but whose lives still ring large in their ruined families lives.

In a surprise turn, the WA government has ordered the Great White, which had been followed by police chopper, caught and killed. Western Australia abandoned its controversial, broad-scale “catch-and-kill” shark cull policy in 2014. The policy faced immediate blowback from scientists and academics who argued it was politically driven rather than evidence-based, noting it treated individual sharks as “rogue man-eating monsters”. However, state legislation retains a specific clause allowing the Fisheries Minister to issue an individual kill order if a shark is deemed an imminent, ongoing threat to public safety.

The common sense decision has thrilled our ol’ shark hunter pal Joel Nancarrow.

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“This is the first bit of common sense I’ve seen from any fisheries minister in a long time. As good as this news is, now is the time to ask her if ‘prevention is still better than cure’.

“Now is the time for you guys in the west to push to have any big whites close to the beach destroyed BEFORE they kill someone instead of waiting.”

And in a longer post on Facebook.

2 shark attacks in a week and todays is fatal!!!!!

I’ve been waiting to have a read before I say anything about this but its exactly what you can expect, people in close to the beach where they should feel safe, YET, due to the ridiculous restrictions and unnecessary protections, the sharks are placed under feeding pressure and taking an opportunity that they wouldn’t usually need to take.

These were whites, nothing else, doesn’t matter what the kids with an education come out with, these were undoubtedly white sharks!!!!!!!

WA has always had the big girls over there, that’s not new, but as with the bulls over here, the numbers are now at a level where people will be attacked on busy beaches in front of family, friends, and kids.

This has been happening over there for a while, but usually on isolated beaches and a lone surfer goes missing and it’s never counted as a shark attack.

It’s not mistaken identity, it’s not “he looked like a seal” this is a case of sharks that size eat meat, and WE ARE MEAT!!!!!

There’s not a lack of fish forcing them to come to shore, they are actively hunting along the shoreline like they always have, Just in HIGHER NUMBERS!!!!!

Leah was attacked in close, as was this swimmer, the reason this hasn’t happened more in the past is the big girls were kept in check by fisherman, you stop the fishos knocking the occasional big one over and this is the result, it’s not going to be the last, it’s only the start, they will have more attacks from whites and bulls this season due to their absolute lack of awareness and knowledge in the west.

Who ever is in charge over there needs to pack your shit and hand in your resignation, you have lost control and greased the noisy wheel for to long instead of unbolting it and pushing it down the fkn hill.

NSW fisheries need to take notice, all those drop kicks in the research team are helping this become the new normal over here in a few years as well, we are seeing more and more big whites and what your seeing over there is the future of NSW unfolding in front of everyone, and when it happens, I look forward to your pathetic excuses of how this was unforeseen.

We are not here to be the “told you so” guys, but all this stuff we have been helping people learn about is happening in real time and it’s at the point where you can’t deny it any more, HOW MANY PEOPLE NEED TO BE EATEN????????