Shark attacks in Australia: a timeline

By:AAP with AG staff | July-16-2012

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There have been 877 shark attacks in Australia since records began in 1791, 216 of which have been fatal.

Fatal shark attacks in Australia 1788-2008. (Credit: Australian Geographic)

THOUGH IT MAY SEEM like shark attacks are more common, the chances of an encounter are still quite rare.

According to the Australian Shark Attack File, kept by researchers at Sydney's Taronga Conservation Society, there have been 877 shark attacks in Australia since records began in 1791,and 216 of which have been fatal. All up, about 30 per cent of shark attacks are fatal.

TIMELINE OF RECENT FATAL AUSTRALIAN SHARK ATTACKS:

14 July 2012: Ben Linden, 24, is killed while surfing near Wedge Island, Western Australia, 180km north of Perth. A witness who tried to help said the shark swam away with the body.

31 March 2012: Peter Kurmann, 33, is taken in south-western WA while diving in the Port Geographe Marina. His brother, who was diving with him, tried to fight off the shark with a knife.

22 October, 2011: American tourist George Thomas Wainwright, 32, sustains horrific injuries and dies while scuba diving off Rottnest Island.

10 October, 2011: Bryn Martin, 64, disappears at Cottesloe Beach and is presumed a shark attack victim. Only his damaged Speedos were found.

4 September, 2011: Kyle Burden, 21, is taken by a shark while bodyboarding with friends at Bunker Bay, near Dunsborough, in Western Australia.

17 February 2011: An abalone diver is taken in an attack by two sharks, believed to be great whites, while surfacing near Perforated Island in Coffin Bay, South Australia.

17 August 2010: A 31-year-old man dies from serious injuries after being attacked by a shark while surfing near Gracetown in Western Australia's south-west.

27 December 2008: Fisherman Brian Guest, 51, is taken by a great white while snorkelling at Port Kennedy in Perth's south. His son and beachgoers saw the shark attack and swim off with him in its mouth.

8 April 2008: A 16-year-old boy from Wollongbar is killed by a shark while bodyboarding off Ballina's Lighthouse Beach on the NSW north coast.

7 January 2006: Sarah Kate Whiley, 21, is mauled by up to three bull sharks while swimming in waist-deep water with friends at Amity Point, off south-east Queensland's North Stradbroke Island.

24 August 2005: Marine biologist Jarrod Stehbens, 23, is taken by a shark, believed to be a great white, while diving for cuttlefish eggs with colleagues off Adelaide's Glenelg Beach.

Large sharks, such as these five species, range far and wide and visit multiple levels of the water column.
(Credit: Australian Geographic).

19 March 2005: Geoffrey Brazier, 26, is attacked by a 6m-long shark, believed to be a great white, while snorkelling near the Abrolhos Islands, off Geraldton, 500km north of Perth.

16 December 2004: Nick Peterson, 18, is killed instantly when attacked by a great white shark while he was being towed behind a boat on a surfboard 300m off Adelaide's popular metropolitan West Beach.

11 December 2004: Mark Thompson, 38, is attacked by a shark while spear fishing with two friends at Opal Reef, about 75km from Cairns in North Queensland. He died from a cardiac arrest soon after the attack.

10 July 2004: Brad Smith, 29, is attacked by two sharks, believed to be a great white and a large bronze whaler, while surfing near Gracetown in Western Australia's south-west.

8 February 2003: Bob Purcell, 84, is attacked by a 2.5m bull whaler while swimming in Burleigh Lake on the Gold Coast in Queensland.

16 December 2002: Beau Martin, 23, is attacked while swimming in Miami Lake on the Gold Coast in Queensland.

30 April 2002: Scallop diver Paul Buckland, 23, is dragged from a mate's arms by a 6m-long great white while trying to get on board a boat in Smoky Bay in the Great Australian Bight, South Australia.

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Comments 3

Rob

16 Jul 2012

A surfer gets killed by a shark and of course now they want to kill them all. When you go into or on the ocean there is always a chance something may happen to you. People make the decision to go into the ocean - suffer the consequences. Get your priorities straight, ban cars, they kill hundreds of thousands of people. But that wont happen because they serve a purpose and make our lives easier, and of course humans are so self absorbed they overlook how many things kill us that they don't want to be without and they justify keeping them. But an animal, well that means nothing to most people..who cares if they die. LEAVE THE SHARKS ALONE...THEY ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN US. I DON'T SEE THEM DESTROYING THE PLANET! Report
Tessa

10 May 2013

Get of your high horse you freak. Where on this page does it say get out your pitch forks and lets go it's educating and showing people where the sharks are and giving them a general safety warning which in no way is bad for the sharks and will make people more aware so that they are more cautious where they swim. If you haven't noticed the articles as the bottom -why sharks attack and how to avoid them -shark attack increase blamed on humans -shark attack survivors unite to protect sharks. Report
Tessa

10 May 2013

Have some respect for the families whose sisters brothers mothers fathers are acknowledged on this page like the 21 year old that was mauled to death by 3 bull sharks just standing in the water if it was three bull dogs they would be put down it's in there nature too it's an unpleasant way to die and after all the facts in here helping sharks I just think you should shut your mouth. Go use your time more procarelessley jump on a whaling ship with a machine gun Report