Sydney records third shark attack in two days; surfer critically injured, northern beaches closed
A shark mauled a surfer off a northern Sydney ocean beach, leaving him in critical condition in hospital with serious leg injuries, authorities said, in the city’s third shark attack in two days. New South Wales Police said members of the public pulled the man, believed to be in his 20s, from the water and began first aid before emergency services arrived. All of Sydney’s northern beaches were closed until further notice.
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Police did not immediately identify the beach or the time of the attack. The victim was taken to hospital in critical condition with severe injuries to his legs, police said.
The latest Sydney shark attack follows a separate incident in Sydney Harbour in which a 12-year-old boy was bitten on the leg while playing with friends at Shark Beach in the eastern suburb of Vaucluse. The children had been jumping from a rock about 6 meters high when the predator struck.
“It was a horrendous scene at the time when police attended. We believe it was something like a bull shark that attacked the lower limbs of that boy,” said Superintendent Joseph McNulty, commander of the New South Wales marine area command. “That boy is fighting for his life now.”
McNulty said recent heavy rain had drained into the harbour, and the combination of brackish water and splashing created a “perfect storm” for a shark attack. He urged people not to swim in the harbour or other river systems in New South Wales because of the heightened risk.
The boy’s friends pulled him from the water before police ferried the unconscious child to shore in a boat and applied two tourniquets to control the bleeding, McNulty said. The boy was in intensive care at Sydney Children’s Hospital and was surrounded by family and friends, he added.
Separately, reports emerged of another northern beaches encounter involving a surfer, reportedly about 11 years old, who was uninjured. Authorities closed the beach immediately as a precaution.
Australia has recorded more than 1,280 shark incidents since 1791, with more than 250 fatalities, according to a national database of human-shark encounters. Scientists say increasingly crowded coastal waters and rising ocean temperatures that appear to be influencing sharks’ migratory patterns may be contributing to more encounters, even as overfishing has depleted some species.
Last year, a great white shark fatally mauled a man surfing at a popular northern Sydney ocean beach in September. Two months later, a bull shark killed a woman swimming off a remote beach north of Sydney.
Authorities have not indicated when Sydney’s northern beaches might reopen. Police and lifeguards urged beachgoers to heed closures and safety warnings, and to avoid swimming in harbour and river systems while water quality remains brackish after recent rain.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
