- A teenager has died in Perth, Western Australia, after being attacked by a shark.
- Police said that they believe the girl may have jumped in the water to swim with dolphins.
A 16-year-old girl has died in a shark attack in Western Australia.
Stella Berry was in the Swan River in Perth, believed to have been riding a Jet Ski with friends before she was attacked, local police have announced.
—Tom Marlow (@TomMarlow_) February 4, 2023
A tribute from the Berry family shared with the Sydney Morning Herald described the high school student as their "beautiful daughter who was a vibrant and happy girl with plans of living in Europe after school."
Her friends witnessed the attack.
Speaking at a press conference, Western Australia Police's Inspector Paul Robinson said, "there was possibly a pod of dolphins seen nearby, and the young female jumped in the water to swim nearby the dolphins," per The Sydney Morning Herald.
Robinson said the young girl's family is "absolutely devastated" by the "very, very traumatic" news.
"It's an extremely traumatic event for everyone involved and everyone who knew the young girl, so I won't be going into the extent of the injuries," he said.
The Australian fisheries minister Don Punch said it was too early to confirm the shark species responsible for the fatal attack but told ABC News that he believes it may be a bull shark.
"We do know that bull sharks, particularly, do enter estuaries and freshwater river systems, so that may likely be the case," he said.
Shark attacks are rare in the Swan River, with Punch telling ABC that this is only the seventh known shark attack in this location.
The Swan River had not seen a fatal shark attack since January 1923, when a bull shark killed a 13-year-old boy, Punch added.
Fatal shark attacks are rare in Australia, with only one recorded in 2022 and two in 2021.
Correction: February 5, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of The Sydney Morning Herald. The headline was updated to clarify events.