Fatal shark attack in WA raises questions

Submitted by news on Mon, Jul 16, 2012 - 11:30am
A fatal shark attack in Western Australian has ignited the debate whether the Great White Shark should remain a protected species.

A 24-year-old surfer was paddling his surfboard north of Perth, when a five-metre great white shark attacked him, increasing the shark attack fatality to five in less than a year. State Fisheries Minister Norman Moore said these rising numbers are troubling and raises the question of whether or not great white sharks should still be protected. Moore said an allocation of $14 million for shark research will be aimed at gaining a better understanding of why the fatalities keep happening.