A Rare Catch-and-Kill Order After a Fatal Shark Attack in WA
Western Australia's fisheries minister has issued a catch-and-kill order for a great white shark after a man was killed swimming Friday morning at Sorrento Beach.
The swimmer was identified as 63-year-old Greg O'Neill BBC. Beachgoers watched the attack off the Perth beach Friday. The body has not been found. His family called him a devoted family man ABC.
Sorrento Beach is in Perth's north, in the Joondalup area. All Joondalup beaches closed until at least midday Sunday as a precaution. A police boat and helicopter patrolled off Sorrento on Saturday.
WA Fisheries Minister Jackie Jarvis issued the order after water police spotted and positively identified the shark on Saturday morning. She authorised fisheries officers to destroy the shark if captured, citing exceptional circumstances and the hazard posed. Think of it as a warrant for one identified animal, not a wider cull.
Great white sharks are a protected species in Australia, so killing them is normally illegal. The Sorrento order is believed to be the first catch-and-kill order in Western Australia in 10 years.
The Sorrento death was the week's second shark attack in Western Australia and the year's third fatal attack in the state. On Monday, a 56-year-old man was bitten surfing off Geraldton, about 430km north of Perth. He survived but lost part of his leg. SharkSmart listed a Shark INCIDENT at Glenfield Beach, Geraldton, updated 16 September 2026 at 11:45 am.
Western Australia has a shark-mitigation system for reporting and deterrence. The SharkSmart WA app provides near real-time shark activity including alerts and warnings, plus safety features such as Surf Life Saving WA patrolled beaches and weather forecasts. The state offers a $200 rebate to residents who buy an approved personal shark deterrent device. It will give Surf Life Saving WA $4.4 million for mitigation work in 2026/27. Recent listings included a Shark WARNING for Perth metropolitan waters dated 11 September 2026 and Shark ADVICE for the WA Shark Monitoring Network, Strickland Bay, dated 04 September 2026.
The broader context here is the policy tension behind the order. Protection is the default, with lethal removal reserved for a positively identified animal in exceptional circumstances. A 10-year gap since the last order shows how rarely that test is met, even with recurring interactions. Two attacks in one week, one fatal and one causing serious injury 430km apart, concentrates pressure on that system and on the warning process behind beach closures.
Looking at what this means for the immediate response, much turns on two questions. The first is whether officers locate and capture the identified shark. The second is whether the Joondalup closure lifts after midday Sunday or extends after further detections. Those decisions will show how the state balances protection, public safety and beach use when incidents cluster.
