CANBERRA: A 39-year-old man has died after being attacked by a shark on the Nice Barrier Reef on Sunday (Might 24), police stated, the second fatal shark attack in Australia this month.
The person was rushed to shore after being bitten close to Kennedy Shoal, a shallow reef round 45km off the coast of the state of Queensland in northeast Australia, a Queensland Police Service spokesperson stated.
Authorities later stated the sufferer died from a crucial head harm after he was attacked whereas spearfishing.
“He was retrieved from the water by one other one that was within the water with him on the time of the assault,” Queensland Police Inspector Elaine Burns stated in a information briefing.
“That is fairly a terrifying factor to see occur in entrance of you,” she added.
The police are offering assist to 3 males who referred to as the coast guard for assist from a personal boat simply earlier than midday (10am, Singapore time), after which travelled over an hour with their injured pal to shore.
The critically injured man arrived at a ship ramp at Hull River Heads at 1pm, the place emergency providers have been ready.
The person died on the boat ramp, Queensland Ambulance stated.
“It is a tragic incident for everybody concerned,” Burns stated, urging folks to “proceed to get pleasure from our stunning shoreline and concentrate on your environment”.
The assault web site is round 160km south of the favored vacationer metropolis of Cairns, the place the person, who was not named by police, had lived.
Kennedy Shoal is a widely known fishing reef in deep water.
Gererd Pike of Hooked Up Fishing stated his boat was six miles from Kennedy Shoal on Sunday, and he had seen giant numbers of “vicious, unpredictable” bull sharks within the space.
“We have been chasing Spanish mackerel and had one eaten by a pack of six of them, 4m off the sting of the boat,” he advised AFP.
“We weren’t going to dip toes within the water,” he added.
Pike stated he heard the emergency providers name within the incident over his boat’s radio.
One other boat constitution operator with a vessel close by stated shark assaults within the space have been uncommon, though bull sharks and tiger sharks have been discovered there.
“It isn’t quite common in any respect. It’s a kind of unlucky issues,” Rob Parsonage, of Mission Seaside Dive, advised AFP.
“The sharks are competing with the fishermen,” he stated.
Sunday’s deadly shark assault is the third in Australia this yr, and comes round every week after a person was killed by a shark whereas spearfishing in Western Australia.
Daryl McPhee, a shark skilled at Queensland’s Bond College, stated deadly shark assaults are uncommon in north Queensland.
“There have now been six deadly bites in Queensland since 2020,” he advised AFP.
The final deadly assault offshore between Townsville and Cairns was in 1990, he stated.
“We have no idea at present with certainty what species of shark was concerned. Doable candidates are bull or tiger sharks,” he stated.
McPhee added that spearfishing represents “a special danger profile than different actions and requires completely different approaches for mitigation in comparison with browsing”.
