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Australia Today: Shark attack in Georges River
Title:
Australia Today: Shark attack in Georges River
NFSA ID
242066
Year
1939
Courtesy
Enterprise Film Co.
Shark attacks on populated beaches are statistically not that common in Australia, but they attract sensational media coverage of the type seen in this newsreel.
This clip shows Beryl Morrin who had both her arms amputated after a shark attack in the Georges River on New Years Day, 1935. She was only 13 at the time. Four years after the attack, Beryl is shown riding a bike, diving and swimming. Despite the odds, Beryl is shown to still love the water, and remains an active swimmer.
Georges River flows out to Botany Bay. The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife service advises against swimming because of the submerged banks, and the number of shark attacks recorded in the area.
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.