4 shark attacks in 2 days prompt dozens of Australian beach closures – Nationwide
Beaches in Sydney and many along Australia’s east coast were closed on Tuesday after four people were attacked by sharks in two days.
The closure was announced after a man was bitten while diving near Port Polmer, about 450 kilometers north of Sydney, on Tuesday.
According to New South Wales (NSW) police, a 39-year-old man suffered a wound to his chest after a shark bit his surfboard. The suspect was sent to hospital where he was treated and then released, the authorities confirmed, adding that four beaches in the area were closed following the attack.
After the series of incidents, marine authorities have advised local people to stay away from the coast.
“If you’re thinking of going swimming, consider going to a local pool because at the moment, we’re advising that the beaches are not safe,” Steven Pearce, chief executive of Surf Life Saving New South Wales, told the media on Tuesday.
“We have such a low water level that it really helps create bull sharks.”
Following the attack, the agency announced it had “doubled” its service on Sydney’s northern beaches.
The closure comes during the Northern Hemisphere summer, a time when beaches across Australia are usually busy with locals and tourists.
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On Monday, emergency services were called to Sydney’s Manly Beach after a diver was bitten by a shark.
Eyewitness Max White told national broadcaster ABC that another diver saved the man’s life by using a board leg rope as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
“He was breathing, but he was unconscious, and we just … tried to keep him awake,” he told the outlet. Paramedics treated the man for serious leg injuries before taking him to hospital in critical condition.
On Monday and Monday, a 10-year-old boy escaped unharmed after a shark tore into his surfboard and bit off part of it. the day before yesterday another boy was left in critical condition after being bitten by a shark on the beach.
All beaches in the Northern Beaches, a council area along Sydney’s north coast, will remain closed until further notice, police said.
Shark attacks follow heavy rains that muddy the waters, creating ideal conditions for bull sharks to roam around.
Sharks don’t usually target people, but dark water reduces their visibility, thereby increasing the risk of them swimming into things or people in the water, at which point they “defend themselves or bite dramatically and then bite again,” Chris Pepin-Neff, an academic and expert in shark behavior, wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
Heavy rain also increases sewage flow, attracting fish that eat sharks, he added. Experts believe, but have not confirmed, that bull sharks may be responsible for the attack.
Photo: A bull swimming with a shark.
Gerard Soury via Getty Images
Australia typically sees around 20 shark attacks a year, less than a third of which are fatal, according to data from conservation groups.
– With files from Reuters
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