In short:
Traces of a whale carcass removed from City Beach could attract sharks to the area for weeks to come, an expert has warned.
uncertain
expert → remove → weeks
Some of Perth's most seasoned swimmers are taking a break from the ocean as sharks continue to be spotted along the popular stretch of coastline.
What's next?
asserted
What → take → coastline
A swimming group is calling for an expansion of the shark tagging program, and investment in AI-powered drones.
asserted
group → call → drones
Some of Perth's most seasoned swimmers are taking a break from the ocean after a whale carcass lured sharks close to shore, with an expert warning that the predators could be attracted to the area for weeks.
uncertain
predators → take → weeks
The whale carcass washed up at City Beach on Monday, just over a week after a fatal shark attack at Sorrento Beach.
asserted
carcass → wash → Beach
Several sharks have been spotted along the stretch of coastline in recent days, forcing the City of Perth Surf Life Saving Club to cancel the Surf Life Saving WA (SLSWA) Enduro Championship at City Beach today, while placing all club-based training on hold until further notice.
asserted
sharks → spot → notice
City Beach, Floreat Beach and Swanbourne Beach have all been closed.
asserted
Beach → close → ?
But the heightened shark activity in recent days has also discouraged swimmers and surfers further along the coastline.
asserted
activity → discourage → coastline
Cottesloe's community ocean swimming group PodSquad is taking a break from its daily 2-kilometre morning swim.
asserted
PodSquad → take → swim
"Even though the [Cottesloe] beaches are open at the moment, we're taking a break for a few more days," the group's founder Shane McGurk said.
"
asserted
McGurk → take → days
Our numbers will drop off now, understandably — it's a very emotive issue.
asserted
it → drop → ?
[Some] people have a different relationship with these sort of events, about how they manage.
asserted
they → have → events
"Some want to get straight back in [and get] back on the horse, so to speak, and others want to take a break and come to terms with the tragedy at Sorrento, and also the whale at City Beach.
asserted
others → want → Beach
"
Calls for more tagging, AI drones
Ahead of each summer, around the end of October, the Town of Cottesloe installs a shark barrier at Cottesloe Beach.
asserted
Town → install → Beach
But this year, it is due to be installed a couple of weeks early — on Wednesday, depending on weather conditions and seaweed movement.
asserted
it → instal → conditions
Mr McGurk said PodSquad members would initially swim within the enclosure when members returned to their morning routine, and they would like to see the enclosure installed early again next year.
asserted
enclosure → say → routine
The group also called for an expansion of the shark tagging program and for investment in AI-powered drones that are capable of identifying shark species when the animals come in close to shore.
asserted
animals → call → shore
He said that could enhance the data available to swimmers when they were making decisions about whether to get into the water.
"We just want to know where the sharks are, and when we know where the sharks are we can keep safe," he said.
uncertain
he → say → water
Sharks could linger for weeks
uncertain
Sharks → linger → weeks
Curt Jenner from the Centre for Whale Research in Western Australia said while the whale carcass had been removed from City Beach, sharks could still be attracted to the area for weeks.
uncertain
sharks → say → weeks
"Whales are full of blubber and that blubber will break down into oil very quickly and that gets straight into the sand," he said.
asserted
he → break → sand
"Sharks are cued in, on a molecular level, to detect small traces of oils or blood or anything like that and so they'll be tasting that for weeks to come."
asserted
they → cue → weeks
Mr Jenner said sharks were also attracted to the south-west coastline between September and December because that time was the peak of the southern migration for humpback whales.
asserted
time → say → whales
The predators also follow other prey, such as blue fin tuna, into the southern ocean.
asserted
predators → follow → ocean
"If you were going to be cautious about being in the water, this is the time," Mr Jenner said.
asserted
Jenner → go → water
The Aporia
