Fatal Great White Shark Attack on Scuba Diver off Western Australia

The victim was the president of his local dive club, a conservationist who opposed shark culling and whose stated dream was to establish a marine park near Esperance — a poignant irony given that he died in an unprovoked great white attack while diving with his wife, who witnessed the incident from the boat and found only his fins and part of his wetsuit remaining.

On January 5, 2020, at approximately 1:00 PM local time, a fatal shark attack occurred off Cull Island, located seven kilometers from Esperance in Western Australia's Indian Ocean waters. The victim was a 57-year-old male scuba diver and respected member of the local diving community, serving as president of his local dive club. He was known for his passion for underwater photography and his commitment to environmental conservation efforts. The incident occurred at a reef location approximately four meters from the victim's dive boat. The victim and his wife were both wearing electrical shark deterrent devices designed to repel sharks through electrical pulses. It remains unclear whether the victim's device was activated at the time of the attack. When the great white shark attacked, the victim's wife, who was aboard the boat, immediately raised the alarm. By the time other local boaters responded to the emergency, only the victim's swim fins and a portion of his wetsuit remained at the scene. The shark and victim had disappeared. Cull Island is a popular diving destination renowned for its protected bays and abundant marine wildlife. The attack occurred during afternoon hours with sea surface temperatures of 68°F. Weather conditions at the time included northerly winds at 9 mph with gusts reaching 22 mph, falling barometric pressure, and a waxing gibbous moon phase. The victim's wife later expressed the family's opposition to shark culling, noting their shared belief that protecting fish stocks would better reduce risks to ocean recreationalists than lethal shark control measures. The victim's vision had been to establish Esperance as a marine park.