Albany community grapples with fatal shark attack that claimed 35yo resident
Daniel Turpin died while spearfishing off the Albany coast after a shark attack. (ABC Great Southern: Astrid Volzke)
In short:
A regional city is still coming to terms with the fatal shark attack that claimed the life of a resident on Saturday.
The 35-year-old man was spearfishing with his family off the Albany coast in WA.
What's next?
Advocates and politicians call for solutions to better protect recreational spearfishers from sharks.
The regional city of Albany is mourning the loss of a resident in a shark attack, with community leaders saying it will take time to heal.
Daniel Turpin had been spearfishing with family near Michaelmas Island on Saturday morning when the attack happened.
Albany mayor Greg Stocks said the 35-year-old was a well-respected member of the community and his wife was a council employee.
"For the community of Albany that hits home pretty hard because whilst we're a city there's one degree of separation really," he said.
"Nearly everybody would know someone who knows someone from the Turpin family."
Mr Stocks paid tribute to the family members who were out on the boat with Mr Turpin at the time.
Greg Stocks says he would not be drawn on the issue of a shark cull. (ABC Great Southern: Andrew Chounding)
"My understanding is that it was Daniel's father and a 14-year-old nephew were on the boat, and the nephew was driving the boat while Wayne was attending to Daniel," he said.
"So incredible, to be honest, that a 14-year-old was able to get himself together to assist and get Daniel to port as quickly as possible."
Resident Graeme Peirce, who is the husband of an ABC reporter, witnessed Mr Turpin being rushed back to the Albany marina.
Despite efforts from first responders, Mr Turpin was unable to be revived.
"The fishing boat came at speed into the marina and were met by police and paramedics there," Mr Peirce said.
"An exceptional job was done by police and paramedics to manage this incident and console the members in such a traumatic experience."
Graeme Peirce saw the boat with an injured Daniel Turpin come into the Albany marina. (ABC Great Southern: Andrew Chounding)
Great Southern Police Superintendent Jon Munday said it was an incredibly challenging day for those on the boat with Mr Turpin and first responders.
"I think it's just a really tough job to be doing, any of the first responders, emergency services," he said.
"We really need to look out for them."
Safety in the water
It is the third shark attack in Australia in the past four weeks.
On May 16, 38-year-old Perth man Steven Mattaboni was killed in a shark attack when he was spearfishing with three friends off Rottnest Island.
In late May, 39-year-old spearfisherman Michael Jensz died when he was attacked by a shark off the Far North Queensland coast.
Albany MP Albany Scott Leary has said selective culling might be a solution.
Scott Leary says the science behind selective shark culling should be looked at. (ABC Great Southern: Samantha Goerling)
Marc Muscat's son Jay died in 2014 at the age of 17, after being bitten on the leg by a shark at Cheynes Beach, near Albany.
Mr Muscat said he did not think control measures for sharks would have an impact.
"They live in the water, whether they cull them all or not, it's not going to bring my son back, so it doesn't concern me," he said.
"They're not going to be able to cull them all."
Marc Muscat says a shark cull will not bring back his son. (ABC Great Southern: Andrew Chounding)
Australian Underwater Federation president Graham Henderson said now was not the time to consider a shark cull, but there needs to be more of a focus on the safety of recreational spearfishers.
"We're calling all our people together in a week's time to have another look at our code of conduct," he said.
"We need to actually make the general public and the recreational divers more aware of what things they can do to mitigate the risks of shark attack."
Albany residents like Joan Brudescio were not in favour of the cull.
Joan Brudescio says the ocean is the shark's habitat and we should not cull them. (ABC Great Southern: Andrew Chounding)
"People must be aware about the places where they're going, because sharks they're in their own habitat there," he said.
"It's much better we are aware anytime we are going in there and then monitor where they are."
Shark researcher Daryl McPhee from Bond University said the WA government should investigate the use of SMART drum lines.
"They have been trialled in Western Australia, but the technology and understanding of them has improved significantly," he said.
"They're a very significant parts of shark bite mitigation in Queensland and New South Wales.
"A SMART drum line is a baited hook, which has a trigger on it which alerts somebody back on land that a shark has been captured and allows a contractor to get to that shark when it's alive to move it offshore and tag it."
WA Fisheries Minister Jackie Jarvis said there was no evidence to support a cull close to shore and she would be meeting with the spearfishing community.
Jackie Jarvis says the government will not be introducing a shark cull. (ABC Great Southern: Kate Forrester)
"We have a world-class shark tagging program and obviously electronic monitoring that will alert people when those tagged sharks are in the area," she said.
"Our primary focus is about having information near real-time data reporting to allow people to make informed decisions."