An investigation has been launched into WA’s sea lion tours after an international tourist was mauled by a tiger shark in waist-deep water off Jurien Bay in Western Australia on Monday.
Vision of the suspected shark, which attacked a 46-year-old woman off Sandland Island around 11.30am, was recorded by Marc Rossier, who was enjoying a Turquoise Safaris tour at the same spot earlier that day.
“When we first saw it, hard to say, it was just a fin out of the water but once we got close to it, probably eight foot or so long and definitely a tiger [shark], you could clearly see the imprints on the skin of it,” he told 9 News Perth.
“We were making jokes on the boat that we’d still like to go swimming with it, but now knowing what’s happened, it’s a pretty serious situation.”
The tour owner later told 9 News Perth he thought five hours was enough time to return to the area with a new boatload of tourists, who were informed of the earlier sighting.
The crewman who pulled the injured woman from the water and tourniquet her leg said it was a freak accident that happened in a matter of seconds.
The victim was mauled on her legs and required two life-saving surgeries at Royal Perth Hospital on Monday night to save her life. She is no longer in a critical condition.
The attack has led to the state government now launching its own investigation into the safety of several sea lion tours which run daily off Jurien Bay.
Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti said the local operators were required to have a state government-issued licence.
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