Western Australia has issued a rare order to catch and kill the great white shark blamed for the death of 63-year-old swimmer Greg O’Neill at Sorrento Beach, near Perth.
O’Neill was swimming close to shore Friday morning when he was attacked in front of beachgoers. Witnesses said he had been in the water with a friend, who escaped. His body has still not been recovered, and authorities continued searching Saturday. O’Neill’s family remembered him as a “generous, devoted family man” and a passionate swimmer who “loved the ocean.”
The more unusual development came afterward.
WA Fisheries Minister Jackie Jarvis authorized officers to capture and destroy the shark after Water Police positively identified the great white involved and it remained in the area.
“In making that decision, I considered the exceptional circumstances of the attack, the hazard posed by the shark, and the potential recovery of coronial evidence,” Jarvis said.
“Leave the shark alone, you go in the ocean at your own risk,” one commenter argued on a local news broadcast, echoing the passionate sentiment of environmentalists who vehemently oppose the hunt.
Related: 20-Foot Great White Kills Swimmer in Western Australia ‘Like a Scene Off Jaws’ (Video)
Jarvis called the decision “very unusual” and said she believed it was the first catch-and-kill order issued in Western Australia in roughly a decade. Fisheries officers deployed capture gear — essentially a drum line normally used for tagging — on Friday, although rough weather prevented its use Saturday.
Witnesses described the attack roughly 15 meters from shore. 7NEWS reported the shark was estimated at around six meters, although authorities have not publicly confirmed that measurement. Ingrid Michell told the outlet the victim was dragged into deeper water “at a rate of knots.”
Western Australia has a long and contentious history with shark-control measures. In 2014, the state trialed baited drum lines near popular beaches following a string of fatal attacks. The program caught 172 sharks and killed 50 tiger sharks over three meters, but no great whites; it drew large protests and was not extended after an environmental review raised concerns.
Jarvis stressed that the current order is not a return to a mass cull.
“This is not the return to the idea that we would cull all apex predators in the ocean,” she said.
O’Neill’s death is WA’s third fatal shark attack of 2026.
Related: Shark Washes Up on Washington Beach—Then Its Head Disappears (Video)
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