WA Police Acting Fremantle District Inspector Paul Robinson said authorities believed the teen was jetskiing on the river with friends about 3.20pm when she jumped into the water to swim with a pod of dolphins near the old Fremantle traffic bridge.
A 16-year-old girl is believed to have been killed in a suspected shark attack in the Swan River at East Fremantle.
Her friends witnessed the attack.
Robinson said the Perth teenager was pulled from the water but died at the scene,despite efforts to revive her.
“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.
“It is unusual for a shark to be that far down the river … at this point in time an alert has been put out,a shark warning,just to let people know this incident has taken place.”
Witness Joshua Banks,16,was with a group of friends jumping from the old Fremantle traffic bridge rope swing when they noticed a jetski and nearby swimmers rushing to shore.
“There were about seven of us and we were on the rope swing for around an hour or two,” he said.
“We saw the dolphins,there were dolphins there. When all the police came by we thought we were in trouble.”
Joshua said the police went past the group but did not say anything to them.
“They looked at us and they didn’t tell us about it,which is kind of worrying as after this had happened we were still jumping off the rope swing,” he said.
“Another person then came over on a jetski and told us to get out of the water.
“We were so grateful that it wasn’t one of us,of course we’re so sorry for what happened and for the family involved.”
The tragedy is the first fatal shark attack in the Swan River in more than a century.
The species involved is yet to be confirmed.
It is the second shark mauling in the Swan River since January 14,2021 when Bicton swimmer Cameron Wrathall was by a suspected 2-3 metre bull shark.
The father was bitten on the thigh and required emergency surgery to survive.
At the time,it was the first shark attack in the Swan River in more than 50 years.
The only recorded fatal bull shark attack in the Swan River prior to Saturday’s incident happened in 1923,when a 13-year-old boy was bitten on the thigh while swimming near Mosman Park.
Fisheries has previously said bull sharks are attracted to freshwater rivers and estuaries to breed.