New details about the incredible bravery of Daniel Turpin’s family and their desperate bid to save his life have emerged. Turpin, 35, was mauled by a 4.5-metre shark while spearfishing with loved ones off Michaelmas Island near Albany in Western Australia’s Great Southern region on Saturday.
While Turpin’s father Wayne attended to him on the boat, his 14-year-old nephew drove the vessel 13 kilometres to meet paramedics at the marina. Albany Mayor Greg Stocks described the teenager’s actions as incredible. “Incredible, to be honest, that a 14-year-old was able to get himself together to assist and get Daniel to port as quickly as possible,” he said.
Stocks has not ruled out a bravery award. “We would support that if that was what should happen, but the police would take control of that,” he added. Fisheries patrols for the shark were cancelled due to bad weather on Monday.
The state government is weathering a storm of its own after two fatal shark attacks in three weeks. Government minister Reece Whitby argued, “We’ve got one of the most comprehensive mitigation strategies of any place on the planet.” Turpin’s death comes three weeks after Steven Mattaboni, 38, was killed by a shark off WA’s Rottnest Island. Mattaboni, a father of two, was bitten on the lower legs on May 16 and could not be saved. He will be laid to rest in a service on Tuesday.
The WA opposition has doubled down on calls for greater information about shark numbers. WA Liberal leader Basil Zempilas said, “There are two West Australian families within the space of three weeks grieving the loss of loved ones and that’s a situation that deserves a response from the state government.” Turpin’s death is also the third ocean tragedy nationwide in a month. Michael Jensz, 39, was killed in an attack on the Great Barrier Reef on May 24. Jensz was diving with friends at Kennedy Shoal, a remote reef system around 40 kilometres off the Cassowary Coast in far north Queensland, when he was mauled.
No Bulletproof Strategy
Spearfishers and divers are often outside traditional mitigation measures, and the use of personal shark deterrents is on the rise. Shanan Worrall, who once administered first aid to a fellow abalone diver attacked by a white shark in front of him, said there is “no bulletproof strategy to this”. “I just think it’s so important that we do utilise all the strategies that we can,” said Worrall, the founder of ocean safety gear company Shark Eyes.
Senior marine life ranger David “Sharky” Baxter told Sunrise that spearfishing can attract sharks from a considerable distance. “What people don’t realise is that a shark can hear a speared, distressed fish up to a kilometre away,” Baxter said. He said just hooking a fish is “enough to bring a shark off its swimming pattern in to investigate”. The City of Albany will be guided by Turpin’s family in anything it does to pay tribute to his life.
