A 17-year-old boy has died after a suspected attack by a white pointer shark at a beach in Western Australia's Great Southern region.
Police believed the teenager was diving or spearfishing at Cheynes Beach, near Albany, with another person when a shark attacked the boy just after 12pm on Monday.
A spokesman said the teenager had an injury consistent with a shark bite, but further assessment would need to be made to confirm the attack.
"We are yet to formally identify him, however we have made contact with his family," he said.
The Fisheries Department has deployed drumlines in the area to catch and kill the suspected white shark, which could be up to five metres long.
Albany mayor Dennis Wellington told AAP the boy was attacked about 40m offshore.
"It's not a long way out, but Three Stripes is a popular spearfishing site," he said.
Beaches in the area are likely to remain closed on Tuesday with locals and holiday makers urged to stay out of the water.
The beach is not patrolled by lifeguards.
Cheynes Beach is 68km east of Albany and is popular with campers and fisherman.
A worker at the local caravan park told AAP that sharks were not commonly seen in the area, except for a few bronze whalers.
It is peak season at the caravan park, which is now full.
If the fatality is confirmed as a shark attack, it would be the eighth in WA in the past five years and the first for 2014.
In October, 23-year-old surfer Sean Pollard lost an arm and his other hand during an attack at Kelpids Beach at Wylie Bay near Esperance.
Two sharks were caught and killed when drumlines were deployed off that beach after the incident.
RECENT FATAL SHARK ATTACKS IN AUSTRALIA
2014:
- A 17-year-old boy dies after receiving injuries consistent with a shark bite.
- Daniel Smith, 18, was mauled at Rudder Reef, north of Port Douglas, in Queensland. He sustained extensive injuries to his right upper leg, right groin and right upper arm, and suffered a heart attack
- Paul Wilcox, 50, bleeds to death after a large shark takes off part of his leg at Clarkes Beach at Byron Bay in northern NSW in September
- Christine Armstrong vanishes while swimming at Tathra Beach in NSW in April. Human remains are later found along with her swimming cap and goggles
- A 28-year-old spear fisherman is killed by a shark at Goldsmith Beach, south of Edithburgh on the Yorke Peninsula SA in February
2013:
- Chris Boyd, 35, dies while surfing at the popular surf break Umbies off Gracetown in Western Australia
2012:
- Surfer Ben Linden, 24, killed by a great white shark off Wedge Island, near Lancelin, north of Perth
- Peter Kurmann, 33, dies after an attack while diving off Stratham Beach, between Busselton and Bunbury in Western Australia
201l:
- Man in his 20s killed while bodyboarding with friends at Bunker Bay, near Dunsborough, WA
- Abalone diver taken in an attack by two sharks, believed to be white pointers, near Perforated Island at Coffin Bay, South Australia
- A man, 48, dies while trying to retrieve a boat that drifted from a beach on Fantome Island northeast of Townsville
2010:
- Man, 31, dies from serious injuries after a shark attacks him near Gracetown in Western Australia's south-west
2009:
- Kyle Burden, 21, killed while boogie boarding at Bunker Bay in Western Australia
(Source: AAP/Australian Shark Attack File).
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