Shark Attack in Australia Leaves One Dead, Another Critically Injured
Sydney, Australia – A shark attack on a beach in New South Wales, Australia, has resulted in one fatality and left another person with serious leg injuries, authorities confirmed today. The incident occurred Thursday, prompting a search and the planned deployment of drumlines to attempt to catch the shark.
The victims, identified by media reports as European tourists, were attacked while in the water. A bystander on the beach applied a makeshift tourniquet to the injured man’s leg, a measure authorities beleive potentially saved his life and aided paramedics in providing immediate care. “I just really need to have a shoutout to the bystander on the beach who put a makeshift tourniquet on the male’s leg which obviously potentially saved his life and allowed New South Wales Ambulance paramedics to get to him and render frist aid,” said a spokesperson for the responding authorities.
Police are working with experts to determine the species of shark involved. Gavin Naylor, director of the University of florida’s shark research program and manager of the International Shark attack File database, noted that a single shark attacking multiple people is “very unusual,” though not unheard of. He added that such incidents are typically linked to tiger sharks, stating, “The few bites that we do have where a single shark has bitten multiple people, it’s usually tiger sharks. We’ve never seen white sharks do that unless somebody’s heroically jumping in the way.”
The attack comes after a separate incident in September where a 57-year-old surfer was fatally mauled by a shark off a Sydney beach. Sections of the surfer’s board were recovered from the scene at Long Reef beach. In 2019, two british tourists were also attacked by a single shark while snorkeling on the Grate Barrier Reef, resulting in serious injuries to both.
Shark attacks remain rare, but authorities urge caution when entering the water and advise adherence to beach safety guidelines.