A surfer has been bitten by a shark in the fourth attack to rock Australia’s most populous state in just three days.
The shark attacked the man’s surfboard at Point Plomer, around 460 kilometres (290 miles) north of Sydney, shortly after 9am on Tuesday, officials said.
The man was lucky to survive with only minor cuts, according to Kempsey-Crescent Head Surf Life Saving Club captain Matt Worrall.
It is understood the shark bit through the man’s wetsuit and tore a chunk from his board. He drove himself to Kempsey District Hospital, according to local reports.
‘The board seemed to take most of the impact,’ Worrall told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ‘He made his own way into shore where he was assisted by locals.’
Bystanders later drove the 39-year-old man to hospital, where he was treated and discharged.
The latest attack came just a day after a 27-year-old surfer suffered ‘life-changing’ injuries when he was bitten by a shark at North Steyne Beach in Manly, on Sydney’s northern beaches.
A surfer had minor injuries from being bitten by a shark Tuesday in the fourth attack off the coast of Australia’s most populous state in three days. It’s understood the shark bit through the man’s wetsuit and took a chunk out of his board
The shark attacked the man’s surfboard at Point Plomer, 460 kilometers (290 miles) north of the New South Wales state capital, around 9am, officials said
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Footage showed the man being dragged from the water by beachgoers who performed first aid until paramedics arrived about 6.20pm on Monday.
He was rushed to Royal North Shore Hospital, where he remains in a critical condition after undergoing surgery for severe lower leg injuries.
It has since emerged the man required 13 units of blood both at the beach and during the ambulance transfer, with highway police delivering additional supplies.
Earlier on Monday, an 11-year-old boy was knocked from his surfboard by a large shark at Dee Why Beach, with several bites taken out of his board. The boy escaped without injury.
The attacks followed another incident on Sunday afternoon at Shark Beach in Vaucluse, where a 12-year-old boy was bitten while swimming with friends near a popular jump rock outside the netted swimming area.
Police later credited the boy’s friends with saving his life by jumping from the rocks during the attack and dragging him back to shore.
‘Those actions were incredibly brave under the circumstances,’ Superintendent Joseph McNulty said, describing the injuries as confronting.
Footage from the third attack shows a surfer being dragged from the water by other beachgoers who performed first aid until paramedics arrived
The third attack at North Steyne Beach in Manly, left a surfer in his 20s in critical condition after he was bitten on the lower leg at about 6.20pm on Monday
A 15cm bite mark on the board of the surfer involved in the third attack suggests he was most likely attacked by a bull shark, according to shark biologists from the primary industries department
Australian media reported the boy suffered catastrophic leg injuries during the attack.
Beaches along New South Wales’ northern coast and Sydney’s northern beaches were closed on Tuesday, with authorities warning they would remain shut to swimmers and surfers for at least 48 hours.
Electronic drumlines, designed to alert authorities when large sharks take bait, were deployed off the Sydney coastline.
Authorities warned recent rainfall had left the water murky, increasing the risk of bull shark attacks, which are responsible for most shark incidents in the Sydney region.
‘If anyone’s thinking of heading into the surf anywhere along the northern beaches, think again,’ Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steve Pearce said.
‘We have such poor water quality that’s really conducive to bull shark activity. At this stage, we’re advising that beaches are unsafe.’
All three Sydney beaches have some form of shark protection netting. It was not immediately clear where the attacks occurred in relation to that netting.
Pearce said the scene of the latest attack was isolated and did not have shark netting.
Dee Why Beach is close to the beach where a 57-year-old surfer was killed by a suspected white shark last September.
In November, a 25-year-old Swiss tourist was killed and her partner was seriously injured trying to save her as they swam off a national park north of Sydney.
