Girl, 12, critical after being pulled from water at Trigg Beach in Perth's north

A 12-year-old girl is in a critical condition after she was pulled unresponsive from the water at Trigg Beach. 

Police received reports of swimmers in distress at the popular beach, in Perth's north, around 6:30pm on Tuesday. 

"On arrival, it was identified that two girls, both age 12, had been caught in a rip and pulled out to sea," a WA Police spokesperson said in a statement. 

"One of the girls was rescued by a surfer and safely brought back to shore."

The spokesperson said the second girl was found unresponsive in the water and brought to shore, where police, volunteer lifeguards and two off-duty doctors performed CPR.

Surf Life Saving WA general manager Chris Peck said a member of the public alerted lifeguards, who were undergoing training on the beach. 

"They're highly trained, they've got access to equipment, they were able to respond as quickly as they could, to apply that emergency care that that person needed," he said.

Five St John WA ambulances attended the scene, including critical care and special operations crews. 

The second girl was taken Perth Children's Hospital where she remains in a critical condition. 

Locals warn of infamous 'Blue Hole'

Locals say an area near the reef at Trigg Point, known as the "Blue Hole" can be particularly dangerous to the uninitiated.

Retired surf life saver Wes Newton, who has been surfing in the area for at least 40 years, said he's had to pull people out of that area after they got into strife.

"It has a little current there, not over the top, and if people float out with it and don't panic they can actually stand on a little sand bank further out," the 78-year-old said.

"It's just a dangerous little current that people don't know about, they've got signs up there, they've put tape up there occasionally to make people aware but people just don't know."

Kern Routley, 29, is at the beach about three days a week and says conditions can get rough.

"I was near the reef today and there's definitely a channel that will just suck you out," he said.

"I was holding on to my board with one hand and you can feel the fins just getting pulled out, so I can see how people can get stuck in that for sure."

Lifesavers' plea

Mr Peck urged beachgoers to only visit patrolled beaches and always swim between the flags over the festive season, with much of the state set to swelter through a heatwave in coming days.

"Last year was a difficult season for our surf lifesavers. We had an extreme number of rescues and an extreme number of drownings because people were choosing not to swim at patrolled beaches," he said. 

WA surf lifesavers carried out 900 rescues in 2024-2025, and 27 people drowned at non-patrolled beaches — a 35 per cent increase on the year before.

"Our message for you this Christmas is stop, look, stay alive, and make sure that you follow the advice of the lifesavers, and you choose a beach that has red and yellow flags, and that you read the beach safety signage," Mr Peck said. 

He said rips claimed a lot of lives at beaches and urged people to learn how to spot them. 

"It’s understanding how to see a rip, [how] to observe it, and making sure that you’re capable of being in that scenario according to the conditions," he said.

"And they [the conditions] can change very quickly, from flat water conditions to when the sea breeze comes in the afternoon, which helps create those rips."

A report by Surf Life Saving Australia found the risk of drowning more than triples on public holidays and long weekends.