Shark attack victim a 'pillar' of society

A nursing lecturer killed by a shark in WA has been remembered fondly by her students, as the debate about the government's shark policy continues.

The second person killed by a shark in WA in a week has been described as a "pillar of the community" as debate rages about how to respond to attacks.

Doreen Ann Collyer, 60, an Edith Cowan University nursing and midwifery lecturer, was mauled by a suspected great white shark while diving with a friend about 1km off Mindarie, in Perth's north, on Sunday.

The grandmother emigrated from Neston in the UK to Western Australia with her husband, David, about five years ago and recently became an Australian citizen.

Surfer Ben Gerring was also attacked at Falcon, south of Perth, last Tuesday and the 29-year-old died in hospital on Friday night.

Ms Collyer's students posted tributes on Facebook, including Graham Last who said: "You guided me and supported me and pushed me to be the nurse I am today ... I will always remember you and strive to become the best paediatric nurse I can."

Eleonora Deak wrote: "Grateful to have had her as one of my teachers for neonatal care. Loved conversations with her comparing UK and Australian nurse education systems."

Ms Collyer's husband described her as a beautiful person who everyone loved.

A GoFundMe page aims to raise money for a scholarship in Ms Collyer's name to continue her passion for research in nursing and paediatric care, as well as a memorial bench or plaque in her honour.

"Please support this fund to allow Doreen's family, colleagues and students to recognise what an amazing pillar of the community she was and how she touched the hearts of so many people," it read.

The Department of Fisheries did not reset baited drum lines on Tuesday because of bad weather and the fact that no shark had been seen in the area for more than a day.

WA Premier Colin Barnett on Monday ruled out permanent drum lines, which were controversially trialled in 2014 then abandoned after 172 sharks were killed, including some that were shot.

But the state government would still catch and kill sharks deemed an imminent threat, he said.

University of Sydney public policy lecturer Chris Neff says every shark fatality in WA had happened in temperatures ranging between 18-20C, but that was not being examined as a factor.

Dr Neff said there were environmental factors that needed to be studied over time, but an impatient and emotional demand for immediate action following a shark attack was counterproductive.

He dismissed the notion of rogue sharks getting a taste for humans, adding that killing a shark responsible for an attack did nothing to make the ocean safer.

"We need to start telling the public the truth and build a broad-based education campaign because the issue of shark bites is a long term issue," Dr Neff said.

"There's no silver bullet and you can't shark-proof Australia."


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Source: AAP



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