00:02Locals here at Sorrento Beach are in disbelief, coming to terms with how such a tragic incident
00:08has occurred on their doorstep. Now, many people were back here at the beach today to pay their
00:14respects, laying floral tributes, and were seen looking out into the ocean in a moment of reflection.
00:21We did see the family from this victim come down onto the beach, escorted by authorities.
00:27Now, they were brought onto the beach and were seen sitting on the beach together, huddled
00:32for about 15 minutes. Now, what we know about this incident is at about 10.15am local time
00:38on Friday morning, authorities were called to Sorrento Beach, receiving reports that there
00:44was a suspected shark attack or a shark incident. Now, they came here, there was police in the
00:50air, on the water and on the shore, but unfortunately a 63-year-old man wasn't able to be rendered
00:56assistance as it was too late. Police confirming the man had died from his injuries after being
01:02bitten by a shark while surfing. Now, Sorrento Beach is a popular swimming location and beloved
01:09by many locals. There's local groups who come and swim here every single day, rain, hail or
01:16shine. Many locals here devastated about what has happened on their doorstep. Here's a little
01:21bit of what some of them had to say. I've been here 40 years from Australia, I'm from Ireland.
01:26We've swam here and, you know, do we feel safe? Yeah, it's just changed. It's like there's a bleak,
01:34bleakness on the beach this morning. So, do we need, how do we need drawings? Do we need,
01:38what do we need? Do we need to change the way we patrol the beaches maybe?
01:43We did receive an update from WA's fisheries minister, Jackie Jarvis, this morning,
01:48who said this is an incredibly distressing situation and offered her condolences to the
01:53victim's family. Now, she did provide an update in saying that she has given the authority to
01:58euthanise the shark, but indicated that it's not currently tagged and wasn't yesterday and hasn't
02:04yet been located by authorities. They are going to be trying to locate it. Deep Herd is today and
02:10they'll be using a drumline method to capture the shark and Deep Herd will be out on the water,
02:17but conditions are proving difficult at the moment. The minister said that at this stage,
02:22a wide scale shark cull is not necessary. Here's what she had to say to reporters this morning.
02:28It will be a matter of going out. It will be a matter of setting drumlines. Setting drumlines,
02:34this capture gear is what Deep Herd do on a regular basis when they are tagging sharks. They are well
02:40versed in doing this operation. They were actually, a team is actually on the South Coast tagging sharks
02:46as we speak and have tagged a shark this morning. Now, this isn't the first shark incident in WA this
02:54week. This incident comes just four days after another non-fatal incident in WA's regions. A local
03:02surfer and firefighter Mel Ismail was bitten by a shark near Geraldton on Monday. Now, he is in hospital
03:09and is in a stable condition now, but two communities in Western Australia reeling from upsetting and
03:15distressing situations. This community in Sorrento coming to terms with a tragic outcome.
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