City Beach is closed after a whale carcass washed up on the sand early on Monday 28 September 2026. Within hours, Surf Life Saving WA's helicopter had spotted two large white sharks circling just off the beach.

Local surf lifesavers found the carcass in the morning and raised the alarm. The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), which runs the state's SharkSmart alerts, then put out a string of shark warnings for the stretch of coast. Authorities have not yet said what species the whale is.

What the helicopter saw

Surf Life Saving WA's Westpac helicopter posted a run of sightings along the metropolitan coast over the late morning and early afternoon:

• 10.46am: a 4-metre white shark about 10 metres offshore at Swanbourne Beach, heading south. A member of the public reported two tiger sharks about 10 metres off Cottesloe Beach at the same time.
• 12.29pm: a 5-metre white shark about 10 metres offshore at City Beach, circling.
• 12.32pm: a 4-metre white shark about 10 metres offshore at City Beach, heading south.
• 12.37pm: a 1.5-metre hammerhead about 150 metres off Trigg Beach, heading west.

The ABC also reported that the helicopter saw a 3.5-metre shark near the carcass, and that a 2.5-metre shark of unknown species was seen circling 10 metres offshore. Neither has been identified.

The closure

The beach is shut from near the Floreat Drain car park to south of Bodmin Avenue. Mayor Gary Mack told the ABC it would not reopen until the carcass had been removed. His advice was blunt:

"People should not swim in this area at all, or even take their dogs out." — Gary Mack, Mayor

Removing the whale has been held up because Monday is the King's Birthday public holiday in WA, and there was no disposal plan in place by early afternoon. Anyone heading to the coast this afternoon should expect the closure to stay in place for some time.

Why a dead whale is a shark magnet

Whale carcasses are one of the strongest shark attractants there is. Oil and blood spread through the water and draw large sharks, especially white sharks, from well outside their usual range. DPIRD warned that the carcass "will continue to act as an attractant that could lead to sharks coming in close to shore" along this stretch, and told beachgoers to take extra care and follow any closures.

The danger doesn't end once the carcass is dragged off the sand. Sharks drawn to the area can stay nearby, and pieces of a carcass can wash up at neighbouring beaches. Swanbourne and Cottesloe to the south and Scarborough and Trigg to the north all share the same water. Monday's sightings stretched from Cottesloe to Trigg.

A nervous fortnight on Perth's coast

The closure comes ten days after a man was killed by a shark at Sorrento Beach, a few kilometres up the coast, on 18 September. The state government ordered that the shark be caught and killed, but it has not been found. The run of sightings at another popular northern beach on a public holiday will do little to settle nerves as the weather warms into spring.

What you should do

• Stay out of the water at City Beach and obey the closure signs and lifesavers' directions.
• Take extra care at nearby beaches, including Floreat, Swanbourne, Cottesloe, Scarborough and Trigg, until the carcass has been removed and the area has cleared.
• Keep dogs off the beach and out of the shallows near the carcass.
• Check the latest alerts on the SharkSmart WA website or app, or follow Surf Life Saving WA for helicopter sightings as they happen.

Sources: Surf Life Saving WA helicopter report, 12.29pm; Surf Life Saving WA, 12.32pm; Surf Life Saving WA, 10.46am; ABC News; WAtoday.

Photo: The Surf Life Saving observation tower at City Beach (file photo, May 2023). Calistemon via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).