A diver whose body was found near Perth in Western Australia suffered “significant injuries consistent with a shark attack”, police have said.
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The 60-year-old woman was diving with a 43-year-old man at a popular spot one kilometre offshore from Mindarie marina about 11.50am on Sunday when she was mauled.
The man managed to get her back into the boat, but the woman did not survive.
Collyer’s diving buddy John said about 25 minutes into the dive, he felt something brush past him and when he surfaced, he saw his friend had been badly attacked.
The fishermen told police the shark was bigger than their 5.3m long boat.
An order has been issued by the Department of Fisheries in Australia to deploy capture gear to catch the shark.
The City of Wannero has closed beaches on either side of the Mindarie boat ramp, south from Claytons Beach and north to Quinns beach.
The 29-year-old was surfing south of Perth last Tuesday when he had his right leg bitten off by a suspected great white great shark measuring at least three metres.
As the WA government’s shark safety policies are being questioned after two deadly attacks in under a week, University of Sydney public policy lecturer Chris Neff said every deadly attack in WA had occurred in temperatures ranging between 18 and 20 degrees.
“Given the nature of the injuries and the location of the incident, it is likely that a large white shark greater than three metres in size is responsible”, the state’s fisheries department said.
Ms Collyer and her husband David, originally from Chester, moved to Australia around five years ago, ABC said.
Mr Barnett said people should have no doubt that the patrolled beaches were safe but it was impossible to protect all surf breaks or divers out in reefs.
The Western Australia surfer died Friday night at Royal Perth Hospital.
The state government is constantly reviewing shark attack mitigation strategies, but there is only so much they can do to protect the public.
An inspection of Gerring’s damaged surfboard showed a white shark was responsible.
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A large shark was caught by baited drum lines on Wednesday, close to the site where Gerring was attacked, then towed further out to sea where it drowned.
