Govind Tekale
Jacqui Rapaic was at Sorrento Beach on Friday morning when she saw a pool of blood in the water. Two men had been swimming close to shore. Only one made it back.
A male swimmer was killed in a shark attack at Sorrento Beach in Perth’s north on Friday, September 18, 2026. Emergency services received the call at approximately 10:15am. Three St John Ambulance crews attended, one responding as a priority call. WA Police deployed a helicopter and water police searched the area for the swimmer. A 2.5-metre shark had been reported in the water near Raleigh Road, close to Hillarys Boat Harbour. The swimmer’s identity has not been released by WA Police.
If you swim at Perth’s northern beaches, the fatal attack at Sorrento Beach on Friday morning occurred just metres from shore, in an area where helicopter patrols had resumed only a week earlier. The beach is closed, but the question is whether patrols are enough. If you’re planning a swim this weekend, check Surf Lifesaving WA patrol schedules before you go.
This was the second serious shark attack on WA coastal waters in less than a week. On Monday, 56-year-old surfer Mel Ismail was mauled at Glenfield Beach near Geraldton, roughly 430 kilometres north of Perth. Friday’s attack follows that incident by four days.
Surf Lifesaving WA’s aerial shark patrol program over Perth’s northern beaches had resumed just one week before Friday’s fatal attack. The patrols were running. The shark had been reported. The swimmer still died. The incident shows that helicopter patrols cannot guarantee that sharks will be detected before a swimmer encounters one.
Was the Sorrento Beach shark attack fatal? Yes. A male swimmer was killed at Sorrento Beach on Friday, September 18, 2026. Emergency services were called at 10:15am and the man was declared dead after a search operation. A 2.5-metre shark was reported in the area. The beach has been closed to swimmers.
Sorrento Beach remains closed. The City of Joondalup closed all beaches within its boundaries as a precautionary measure following the incident. Before entering the water at any Perth metropolitan beach this weekend, check SharkSmart and local-government notices for current closures — reopening times can change as authorities assess conditions on the water. Updates on victim identification will come from WA Police.
