Teenage girl killed in shark attack off popular beach identified
By Sean Parnell and Cloe Read
A 17-year-old girl has died after being bitten by a shark off Bribie Island, just north of Brisbane, on Monday afternoon.
Charlize Zmuda died after she was attacked by a shark of Bribie Island. Credit: TikTok
The teenager has been identified as Charlize Zmuda, a member of the Bribie Island Surf Life Saving Club.
Nine News reported she was bitten on the arm about 100 metres offshore, and was helped back to the beach.
The Queensland Ambulance Service sent crews to Rickman Parade, along an unpatrolled stretch of Woorim Beach, at 4.45pm.
Witnesses and paramedics tried to save her, but her upper body wounds were so significant she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Photos online show Charlize had her school formal in recent days and was a co-captain for the surf lifesaving club’s 23-24 Nipper season.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner.
Drumlines have been used in the area to attract and catch sharks under a program intended to mitigate the risk to the public. It was not clear on Monday whether they were baited, or how recently sharks had been culled.
Woorim is the most popular beach on the island, connecting the oceanside suburb to a national park popular with campers and four-wheel-drive enthusiasts.
South of where the attack occurred, the beach is patrolled by lifesavers.
According to a government website, there are drumlines off Rickman Parade, while a protected fish habitat is further north.
It is the first shark attack in Greater Brisbane since 2006, when 21-year-old Sarah Whiley died at Amity Point on North Stradbroke Island. Since then, there have also been fatalities on the Gold Coast and K’gari, as well as further north, particularly around the Whitsundays.
The attack comes weeks after a youth pastor was killed by a shark off Rockhampton.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner after the fatal shark attack at Bribie Island.Credit: Nine News
Luke Walford, from Rockhampton, was bitten on the neck while fishing at Humpy Island, within the Keppel island group off the coast.
Walford’s death prompted a debate over Queensland’s shark control program, with the incoming LNP government vowing to consider an as-yet unreleased review of the program ahead of drafting a new strategy.
The government uses shark nets and drumlines to control sharks at some 86 beaches across the state, with drumlines subject to a 20-metre exclusion zone due to the risk of increased shark activity.
In 2024, drumlines caught a tiger shark, bull whaler and common blacktip whaler on Bribie Island, along with a green turtle. According to recently released government data, that was the smallest catch of any area in the program, with the Capricorn Coast (304), Mackay (267), Townsville (222) and Cairns (208) catching the most sharks.
Premier David Crisafulli said the incident was devastating.
“For someone so young to lose their life in a shark attack is an unimaginable tragedy,” he said.
Whiley’s death in 2006 was the first to occur at a Queensland beach with shark-control measures, and prompted a debate over the use of drumlines near popular swimming areas.
The use of drumlines to cull sharks is unpopular with conservationists and has also been challenged in court, leading to changes in government policy.
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