A teenage girl from Perth died after she was attacked by a shark in Australia’s Swan River. The incident happened on Saturday afternoon while she was with her friends near a bridge in North Fremantle.
Despite the efforts of paramedics and witnesses to save her, Stella was not able to survive.
It has been revealed that in 2017, she designed a shark-free pool for a beach in Cottesloe.
She was a student at St. Hildegard’s Anglican School for Girls. Her classmate helped her come up with the design.
Although the design allowed small fish to swim in the pool, it did not allow large sharks or other dangerous animals to be in it.
Jo Dawkins, the mayor of Cottesloe at that time, praised Stella and her classmates for their efforts in engineering.
The article about their project was accompanied by a photo of the girl, her model, and the mayor.
During that time, the ocean pool was under consideration for the beach. The site where they had chosen was considered to be quite possible.
Stella was taken from the water at around 3.45pm on Saturday afternoon. Her death was the first shark attack in the area in a hundred years.
Thousands of tributes have been paid to Stella, with her parents releasing a statement about their beautiful daughter.
They also released pictures of Stella. In the statement, the Berry family said they were devastated by her death. Stella was very happy and had plans to move to Europe after finishing her school.
The statement also talked about Stella’s passion for art and her love for the water. She often took her friends out on the river to surf.
Stella was described as a beautiful and loving sister who was the best daughter one could ever ask for.
The City of Fremantle also reopened the section of the river where she was attacked.
The growing number of people who paid tribute to Stella has shown how her death has affected them.
On Monday, Stella’s school released a statement about the student. In it, the principal of Shenton College said that Stella was a star who had a lasting positive influence on everyone she met.
The Premier of Western Australia, Mark McGowan, also said that the state government would look into ways to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future.
Various measures are being considered, such as the use of shark nets and a shark barrier.
The type of shark that attacked Stella will be studied through scientific testing.
The most common type of shark that can be found in the Swan River is the bull shark.
“They inhabit waters that are in very close proximity to us and that water tends to be dirty so the chances of us interacting with the shark can actually be higher than any other species because they’re in our backyards,” marine expert Dr Johan Gustafson said.