The most recent victim, 35‑year‑old diver Daniel Turpin, died on Saturday after being bitten by a suspected 4.5‑metre shark while spearfishing with his family off Michaelmas Island near Albany.
Mr Turpin's death followed the killing of 38‑year‑old Perth father Steven Mattaboni off Rottnest Island on May 16, and 39‑year‑old Queensland spearfisher Michael Jensz at Kennedy Shoal south of Cairns on May 24.
Both WA attacks are believed to have involved great white sharks, while Jensz was thought to have been taken by a bull shark.
Bond University shark expert Daryl McPhee said spearfishers faced different and often higher risks than swimmers or surfers because of how and where they entered the water.
"You have the potential stimulus of fish in the water or fishing activity," Associate Professor McPhee said.
"The risk of a bite on a spear fisherman being fatal is higher than on surfers or swimmers."
He said spearfishers were often bitten on the torso or head, with no board or other barrier between them and a large shark, making catastrophic injuries more likely when a serious bite occurred.
Nationally, average shark‑related deaths have risen from about 1.65 fatalities a year between 2002 and 2019 to about four a year since 2020, with four deaths already recorded in 2026.
"A cluster of shark bites makes headlines for one simple reason: it frightens people," Assoc Prof McPhee said.
However, he said large sharks such as whites and bulls were apex predators and inquisitive animals, not the monsters of popular culture.
"They are not a malevolent animal that's hunting people for fun," he said.
"It's not a Hollywood movie. It's not Jaws."
He said one of their key food sources, humpback whales, was increasing in number, and other prey such as Australian salmon had also risen, undermining claims sharks were turning to humans because their food had been fished out.
The recent deaths have renewed scrutiny of shark safety in WA, where the Cook Labor government has invested tens of millions of dollars in mitigation and monitoring programs.
Shadow fisheries minister Kirrilee Warr said confidence had been shaken and called for the government to release the scientific advice it was relying on.
"Two fatal shark attacks in just a matter of weeks are deeply concerning and have rightly shaken confidence across ocean-loving Western Australians," she said.
"The government cannot simply point to existing measures and move on. It must demonstrate what is working, what is failing, and what additional action is being considered."
Despite the tragedies, Assoc Prof McPhee said Australia remained one of the safest coastal nations, with highly trained surf lifesavers, lifeguards and emergency responders.
He said the ocean would always carry risk and the goal was not to eliminate it, which was impossible, but to manage it as intelligently as possible, noting sharks were not "invading" beaches but behaving as they always had in response to environmental cues.
