Shark spotted in hours before woman attacked on sea lion tour

The company in charge of the tour on which a woman was bitten by a shark is understood to have known the creature had been seen in the area just hours before.

A 46-year-old tourist was attacked by a tiger shark while in waist-deep water off Sandland Island near Jurien Bay on Monday.

Questions are being raised about why Turquoise Safaris took a boat full of tourists to snorkel with sea lions just hours after a shark was spotted swimming in the same waters.

READ MORE: Tourist undergoes emergency surgery after tiger shark attack

The operator knew about the shark and so did those onboard the tour boat.

The owner of the tour company told 9News he thought five hours was long enough to wait before returning to the spot where the attack eventually took place.

"We were making jokes on the boat that we'd still like to go swimming with it," fellow tourist Marc Roissetter said.

"But now knowing what's happened, it's a pretty serious situation.

"When we first saw it, hard to say, it was just a fin out of the water, but once we got close to it, probably eight foot or so long and definitely a tiger, you could clearly see the imprints on the skin of it."

Locals say shark sightings are becoming more frequent.

The DPIRD confirmed investigations were under way into the illegal dumping of kangaroo carcasses in nearby waters and whether that had attracted the shark.

The government has also launched its own investigation into the safety of the tour.

"It will be an item I want to put on the agenda to make sure all of our agencies work together to ensure that the best safety procedures and info is shared to those tourists," Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti said.