Minister defends drum line backflip after fatal Sorrento shark attack

Sorrento Beach reopened on Monday morning after a fatal shark attack claimed the life of swimmer Greg O’Neill.

The 63-year-old was swimming with a friend about 15 metres offshore on Friday when he was mauled by a suspected five-metre great white shark as horrified beachgoers watched on.

“I think everyone on the beach that day … witnessed something that was horrific and it will no doubt be stuck in their minds for a long time to come,” WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said.

The shark was tracked north of the attack site later that day, but authorities lost sight of it about a kilometre west of the coast near Hillarys.

A rare catch-and-kill order was issued, but bad weather hampered conditions, with drum lines deployed on Sunday, and then, fewer than 12 hours later, pulled from the water.

Macquarie University Fish Lab spokesman Culum Brown said it would be pointless to try and catch the shark.

“The chances of finding a particular shark several days down the road is very slim indeed, they move hundreds of kilometres to thousands of kilometres,” he told 9News Perth .

WA Police Minister Reece Whitby denied it was a misstep by Fisheries to put the drum lines in on Sunday, after bad weather hampered Saturday’s search efforts.

“The Fisheries department are the experts in this area, they made the judgements,” he said.

“I’m a great supporter that when we have the ability to know that the shark is the shark that’s responsible, we should take action.

“At this point, it’s highly unlikely that we can identify the shark and actually capture the shark that was responsible.”

Fisheries confirmed the odds of finding the shark were “significantly diminished” and that there had been no evidence of white shark activity in the area since shortly after the attack.

Surf Life Saving WA helicopter patrols at beaches will be launched on Monday, a week earlier than scheduled, to boost safety.

The makeshift memorial for O’Neill continues to grow, with friends from his Sorrento Squids swimming group remembering him on Sunday.