A surfer has been taken to hospital after being bitten by a shark off the coast of a New South Wales national park campground, the state’s fourth incident in 48 hours.
The Mid North Coast Local Health District said the man, 39, was in hospital in a stable condition with minor injuries after an animal bite. The attack took place near the Point Plomer campground, less than 20km up the coastline from Port Macquarie, on Tuesday morning.
The man escaped serious injury and was recovering with minor cuts and grazes, Surf Life Saving NSW CEO, Steven Pearce, told the ABC.
“If anyone’s thinking of heading into the surf this morning, anywhere along the northern beaches, think again,” Pearce said. “We have such poor water quality that’s conducive to bull shark activity. We have two people critically injured in hospital this morning.”
“Just go to a local pool, because at this stage, we’re advising that the beaches are unsafe.”
Donna Wishart, a communications manager at Surf Life Saving NSW, said the agency had activated drone surveillance and lifeguard teams in the area near Crescent Head, who were traveling to the beach on jetskis. She confirmed the group had been told the man suffered grazes to his leg after coming into contact with a shark.
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
NSW SharkSmart confirmed a “shark incident” at Point Plomer beach on Tuesday morning, just after 10am.
In an Instagram post, Port Macquarie Australian Lifeguard Service said beaches between Town beach and Crescent Head had been closed due to a “shark bite incident a Point Plomer”.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries was aware of the incident and said it would release a statement on the matter later in the day.
The Sydney region has seen a spate of shark attacks in recent days following a period of heavy rain.
A 12-year-old boy remains in hospital after he was bitten near Sydney’s Nielsen Park on Sunday. An 11-year old surfer had his board bitten by a shark at Dee Why on Monday, and a man thought to be in his 20s remains in a critical condition after he was bitten by a shark at Manly beach on Monday evening.
Experts say the brackish and murky conditions in Sydney Harbour and along the coastline has made swimming much more dangerous, drawing in sharks and the bait fish they eat. NSW police have urged the public to avoid the water in such conditions.
All beaches in Sydney’s northern beaches are closed until at least Thursday, as are many in the Vaucluse area.
Shark bites are rare in Sydney harbour – before Sunday, there had been just four in the past 50 years, including a woman who was seriously injured after a bull shark bit her leg in Elizabeth Bay in 2024. But experts said bull sharks are opportunistic hunters, and shark bites can happen as the animals seek to eat whatever is in front of them.
General advice for swimmers includes swimming in groups, avoiding swimming at dawn and dusk and staying out of the ocean and waterways after heavy rainfall, especially in and around estuaries, due to the murky conditions.
“Bull sharks are also one of the few species of sharks and rays that can tolerate brackish and even freshwater for extended periods, which means they are especially comfortable moving in and out of river mouths and turbid coastal waters after heavy rain,” Jodie Rummer, a professor of marine biology at James Cook University, said in a statement. “We also have more people in the water than ever before, which naturally increases the chance of encounters.”
“The key message is being shark smart.”
#shark #attacks #hours #NSW #authorities #urge #beachgoers #pool #South #Wales