Authorities are working to confirm reports a massive bull shark was caught and released by a fisherman in the Swan River, less than a kilometre from where a teenage girl was fatally attacked over the weekend.
Stella Berry, 16, had jumped into the river near the Fremantle traffic bridge in Perth to swim near a pod of dolphins when she was mauled by what is believed to have been a bull shark.
She was pulled from the water with significant injuries to her leg and could not be saved.
WA Surf Life Saving said it received a report a 2.5 metre bull shark was caught and released at the East Fremantle Boat Ramp about 11pm on Wednesday.
The boat ramp is just one kilometre north of where Ms Berry was fatally attacked.
In a social media post, the young fisherman said the shark took about an hour to reel in.
“It was caught on a mullet (mullet are often used for crab bait etc) not attempting to get something that large,” he wrote.
“The bait was put out in the location we were fishing in, it didn’t come from the ocean it was in the river swimming past.
“They may potentially be dangerous to others and people can’t get their head around how big they get in the Swan River right here in Perth. Be safe out there this summer.”
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is currently looking into the social media post.
A shark alert has since been issued for swimmers in North Fremantle after the confirmed sighting of a three-metre long bull shark in the area, while shark advice has been issued for the vicinity of the East Fremantle Boat Ramp.
On Monday, Ms Berry’s grief-stricken parents released an emotional statement describing their daughter as a “vibrant and happy girl” who planned to live in Europe after she finished school.
“We are devastated and deeply shocked by the loss of our beautiful daughter Stella,” they said.
“She had an infectious laugh which we couldn’t help laughing at too when we heard it.
“Stella loved creating art and spending time with her friends, particularly at the river and beach.
“She was a beautiful and loving big sister and the best daughter we could have ever hoped for.”
It is the first fatal shark attack in the Swan River in one hundred years, with a 13-year-old school boy killed while swimming in neighbouring Peppermint Grove on January 27, 1923.
Meanwhile two years ago Perth man Cameron Wrathall was severely injured by a bull shark in Swan River during a morning swim.
Although bull sharks are known to frequent the river, the January 2021 incident was the first attack since the 1960s and one of only a handful in the last century.
Source: Sky News
