A man in his 20s and a 12-year-old boy are in critical condition after being involved in shark-biting incidents in the waters of Sydney, Australia. An 11-year-old boy was also attacked but escaped unharmed.
The spate of attacks occurred within just 26 hours of each other, with the first incident reported on the afternoon of Sunday, 18 January near Shark Beach in Sydney Harbour.
Local police say the 12-year-old was jumping from rocks into the water outside a designated, netted swimming area at around 4.30pm when he was bitten and seriously injured.
The boy was brought to shore where officers from New South Wales police applied tourniquets to control ‘severe bleeding’, before being taken to waiting ambulance crews at nearby Rose Bay. He was then transported to Sydney Children’s Hospital, where he remains in a critical condition.
A police statement said that the boy’s injuries were ‘consistent with what is believed to have been a large shark.’ Senior Constable John Morris said that the double tourniquet applied by the officers likely saved the boy’s life.
A second incident was reported on Monday morning at Dee Why Beach on Sydney’s northern shore. Local reports say an 11-year-old boy was surfing when a shark bit his surfboard, knocking him into the water. The child was not injured and was assisted back to shore by another surfer.
The species of shark in the first attack has not been confirmed, although witnesses have reported the second as possibly being a 1.5 metre long bull shark.
The third attack occurred at 6.20pm on Monday evening at North Steyne Beach in Manly when a man, believed to be in his 20s, was seriously injured by a shark while surfing.
New South Wales police said in a statement that the man was pulled from the water by members of the public, where he was given first aid on the beach before being taken to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition.
Although the shark species has not been formally identified, a spokesperson for the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) said in a statement they believed that a bull shark was involved, ‘based on the nature of the injuries and the environmental conditions at the site.’
New South Wales Police Superintendent Joseph McNulty told reporters that the incidents likely occurred due to several days of heavy rains across Sydney, causing a large outflow of fresh water into Sydney Harbour.
The brackish water, coupled with poor visibility from runoff, creates ideal conditions for bull sharks to hunt fish that have been dispersed around the harbour by the rain.
‘At the moment we’ve experienced a lot of freshwater in the harbour, it’s brackish water, so you can’t see the bottom, so I would recommend not swimming there right now,’ said Superintendent McNulty. ‘We believe the combination of brackish water, freshwater run-off and splashing created a perfect storm for that shark attack.’
Police have said the beaches will remain closed until further notice, and at least 24 hours, while investigations are underway, including patrols by drone and jetski.
