Shark victim out of ICU as hooks pulled from Whitsundays waters

The drum lines were removed as victim Justine Barwick sent a message of thanks to her supporters after she was moved from the intensive care unit at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, a week after she was bitten.

Ms Barwick, who was holidaying from Tasmania, and a 12-year-old Victorian girl, Hannah Papps, were bitten last week in separate incidents, prompting the Queensland government to place the shark hooks in Cid Harbour, off Whitsunday Island.

Fisheries Queensland has admitted there is likely no way to confirm if any of the sharks culled were responsible for the attacks on the tourists.

Ms Barwick was transferred from the intensive care unit to a surgical ward at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital on Wednesday.

Her condition was considered stable.

Her husband Craig said she was still finding it difficult to speak but had been reading through messages from well-wishers.

Ms Barwick said it was touching to receive so much concern.

“Your messages of love, hope and friendship have been truly supportive,” she said.

“It tells a girl that she is on a good thing when she is this well supported.”

Children’s Health Queensland said on Thursday that Hannah’s condition was still listed as serious but stable at Lady Cilento Children's Hospital.

Fisheries Minister Mark Furner said the state government's response to the "unprecedented" shark attacks had been reviewed regularly and judged to be effective in raising public awareness.

“By removing these large sharks we have made the area safer and the publicity around our actions has certainly made everyone more conscious of their own well-being in those waters," he said.

“The sharks removed measured 1.2 metres up to 3.7 metres, which is very large.

"Most of these were tiger sharks more than two metres in length, which have a history of causing serious injuries and death.

“This indicates the high level of shark activity in the area and suggests more than one shark was involved in last week’s incidents."

Five tiger sharks and one black tip shark were hooked and euthanised by Fisheries Queensland following the attacks, with the last shark caught on Sunday.

Conservationists questioned the use of drum lines, saying there was no proof any of the sharks caught were responsible.

The Humane Society International said the public reaction to the sharks being killed was a "huge wake-up call" to the state government over a lack of support for the practice.

"The Queensland government cannot stay stuck in the past, and needs to urgently consider new technology and non-lethal measures to protect ocean users,” HSI's Nicola Beynon said.

A Whitsundays tourism operator, Tony Fontes, said the removal of the hooks was a "win" for the tourism-reliant community, and for the sharks.

"I'm proud of the community's response and support for the removal of the drumlines," Mr Fontes said.

Boating and Fisheries Patrols would remain at Cid Harbour to monitor the waters and raise awareness of shark safety, Mr Furner said.

The announcement comes in the middle of school holidays, as Katter's Australian Party Queensland leader Robbie Katter said media coverage of the shark bites had spread globally and damaged the Whitsundays' reputation.

"We are starting to see reports that yacht charter and dive operators are seeing a major drop in forward bookings directly as a result of the shark attack coverage," he said.

"If that flows through into other tourism sectors, that means the loss of big dollars in the north as they head into one of their important tourism periods."

Humane Society International pointed to several media polls in recent days showing a lack of public support for the culls.

A poll on Fairfax Media websites had 90 per cent of respondents against the culls, an ABC Brisbane poll had 84 per cent against, while a Courier-Mail poll showed 69 per cent of people opposed to killing sharks.

"These polls show the public does not want to see sharks culled in our oceans," Lawrence Chlebeck, marine campaigner at Humane Society International, said.

"This is a wake-up call for the Queensland government to rapidly move towards non-lethal measures that better protect human lives and marine wildlife in the Great Barrier Reef."

There were 911 sharks caught in Queensland waters in 1995-96 as part of the shark control program and 489 sharks caught in 2016-17.

In 2017, 510 sharks were captured.

- with Felicity Caldwell and AAP