Suspected fatal shark attack closes Perth's Sorrento Beach

Emergency services were called to a suspected fatal shark attack off a city beach in Western Australia on Friday, prompting authorities to close the shoreline to swimmers.

A police boat and helicopter were dispatched to Sorrento Beach in Perth's northern suburbs following reports of a possible shark-related incident, according to a police statement. Wildlife officers from the state government were also investigating.

Witnesses described seeing blood in the water. Beach walker Jacqui Rapaic said a friend alerted her to the possibility of an attack before she spotted a pool of blood in the ocean.

Local resident Ryan Rowe, who arrived at the beach shortly afterwards, said an onlooker told him someone had been bitten by a shark. He described being struck by the volume of blood visible in the water.

The incident comes days after a surfer suffered a serious leg wound in a shark attack on Monday near Geraldton, roughly 400 kilometres north of Perth.

Four fatal shark attacks have been confirmed in Australia this year. Three spearfishing divers were killed off the Australian coast within a four-week span in May and June, while in January a 12-year-old boy died in hospital days after being mauled by a bull shark in Sydney Harbour.

Since 2000, Australia has recorded an average of two to three fatal shark attacks annually, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database, a collaboration involving the Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Flinders University and the New South Wales state government.