Stella Berry bull shark attack: Myths about predator and dolphins after Swan ... trends now
Stella Berry, 16, was with friends on the banks of the Swan River in North Fremantle, Perth, on Saturday when she was fatally attacked by a shark
The death of a teen girl who was mauled by a shark after jumping into a river to swim with dolphins has sent shockwaves around the country - as experts reveal what every Aussie entering the ocean needs to watch out for.
Stella Berry, 16, was with friends on the banks of the Swan River in North Fremantle, Perth, on Saturday when she saw a pod of dolphins and jumped in the water about 3.30pm.
She was bitten on the leg by a suspected bull shark and was unable to be saved despite the desperate efforts of witnesses and paramedics.
The tragedy comes nearly a year after 35-year-old British expat Simon Nellist was killed by a great white shark while swimming past the rocks at Little Bay, in Sydney's south-east.
Robert Harcourt, an Honorary Professor of Marine Ecology at Macquarie University, and regular surfer, told Daily Mail Australia that swimmers shouldn't be deterred from going in the water but said it was important to know the facts about what lurks below the surface.
Stella was fatally attacked by a suspected bull shark (pictured is a bull shark)
Experts have said that despite many people believing dolphins mean there aren't sharks around, the two animals often feed on similar prey
It's a common myth that if dolphins are near, sharks are not, but experts have revealed this is not always the case.
'It's a bit of an urban myth,' Prof Harcourt, a regular surfer in Sydney's eastern suburbs, told Daily Mail Australia.
Bottlenose dolphins, which are commonly found around the shores of Australia, often feed on the same fish as bull sharks and great whites, and can be prey themselves.
Prof Harcourt said if dolphins are moving fast and changing direction quickly it means they're feeding, and there's likely to be other animals feeding in the same spot.
'If you see dolphins it's very likely there are fish, which mean it's likely there are sharks,' he said.
'I've got pictures of dolphins swimming around (great) white sharks, we know we can often find them feeding in the same school of fish.'
There are a number of anecdotes dolphins have protected swimmers from sharks
There are numerous anecdotes of dolphins reportedly protecting humans from sharks but no factual evidence of such behaviour.
In 2004, lifeguard Rob Howes was swimming with his teenage daughter and her friends off the northern coast of New Zealand when they came across a pod of dolphins.
Mr Howes said the dolphins suddenly started to push them together and 'herd' them.
He then noticed what he suspected to be a three-metre long great white swimming nearby.
He told the NZ Herald at the time the dolphins had protected him and the teenage girls for the next 40 minutes from the sharks.
Prof Harcourt said if dolphins were swimming near humans when a shark was in the area, it didn't necessarily mean they were protecting the swimmers, but said it was more a 'safety in numbers' concept.
'Dolphins avoid sharks by having group vigilance,' he said.
