Third fatal shark attack off Australia's coast in four weeks

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• Three people have died in shark attacks off Australia's coast in the space of four weeks, most recently a 35-year-old spearfisherman near Albany.
• Despite being rescued quickly, the man could not be saved; a 4.5-metre-long great white shark was probably responsible.
• The accumulation is considered unusual, as there are usually around three fatal attacks per year on average in Australia.

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For the third time in four weeks, a shark attack off the Australian coast has claimed the life of a person. According to police, the victim of the latest attack on Saturday was a 35-year-old man who was spearfishing with his family off Michaelmas Island near the port city of Albany in the state of Western Australia.

The man was taken to Albany by boat, but paramedics there were unable to revive him, police said. The authorities suspect that a 4.50-metre-long great white shark was responsible for the attack.

The series of three deaths within a short space of time is unusual. In Australia, an average of around three people a year have been killed by shark attacks in recent decades.

The latest death occurred on May 24, when a 39-year-old spearfisherman suffered life-threatening head injuries and died in a shark attack on the Great Barrier Reef off the north-east coast of Australia. Bull sharks had been spotted in the area.

A week earlier, on May 16, a 38-year-old spearfisherman was attacked and fatally injured by a four-metre-long great white shark northwest of Albany near Rottnest Island. In January, a twelve-year-old boy died a few days after being attacked by a bull shark in Sydney Harbour.