A teenage girl in Australia on a jet ski jumped into the water to swim with dolphins when she was mauled and killed by a shark.

The 16-year-old suffered severe and fatal injuries in Swan River in Perth, Australia.

Acting Police Inspector Paul Robinson told news media that the teen most likely spotted a group of dolphins while jet skiing with friends. She was the only one to enter the water. 

According to wildlife officials, the Swan River, which is connected to the Indian Ocean, does not have a considerable presence of sharks, and shark sightings and death by sharks are rare in the location.

Local media reports speculate that the attack came from a bull shark, the shark species that is usually found in Australian rivers.

Interviewed by CNN, Andrew Chin, a James Cook University senior research fellow, said that even though the attack was rare, it was not the only one that has occurred in Perth.

Chin said the river estuary is a popular habitat for bull sharks, and people should be more careful about coming into contact with sharks. He warned the public to follow safety advice from local officials.

The last fatal shark attack in Perth’s Swan River was over a year ago, in November 2021, when a bull shark attacked a 50-year-old local man. Witnesses pulled him out of the river and attended to him, but he died from a wound to his leg.

Officer Robinson said that although bull sharks are aggressive sometimes, experts continue to say that shark attacks are rare in the Swan River area. People should be cautious but shouldn’t panic.