Teenage girl killed in shark attack off popular Bribie Island beach

A 17-year-old girl has died after being bitten by a shark off Bribie Island, just north of Brisbane, on Monday afternoon.

The Queensland Ambulance Service sent crews to Rickman Parade, along an unpatrolled stretch of Woorim Beach, at 4.45pm. In a social media post, the QAS described it as a “serious shark bite incident”.

Nine News reported the victim was bitten on the arm about 100 metres offshore, and was helped back to the beach.

A 17-year-old girl has died after being bitten by a shark while swimming off Woorim Beach at Bribie Island, just north of Brisbane.Credit: Nine News

Witnesses and paramedics tried to save her, but her upper body wounds were so significant she was pronounced dead at the scene.

A Queensland Police Service spokesman said the girl was swimming when she was bitten.

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.

Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

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.

The beach is patrolled by lifesavers south of where the attack occurred.

According to a government website, there are drumlines off Rickman Parade, while protected fish habitat is further north.

The Queensland government has used drumlines to control sharks in the area where a 17-year-old girl was fatally attacked.Credit: Queensland Department of Primary Industries

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.

It comes only weeks after a youth pastor was fatally attacked by a shark off Rockhampton.

Luke Walford, from Rockhampton, suffered significant injuries when he was bitten on the neck while fishing at Humpy Island, within the Keppel island group off the coast of Rockhampton.

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.

Police will prepare a report for the coroner after a fatal shark attack at Bribie Island, north of Brisbane.Credit: Nine News

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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