A 59-year-old man from Sydney's northern beaches has died after a shark attack at Tuncurry Beach on the NSW Mid North Coast.
Key points:
- First responders performed CPR on the man but were unable to revive him.
- Police said the man saw the shark before it attacked and tried to warn other surfers
- Brian Wilcox from the local Surf Life Saving branch said he could not recall another shark attack having happened in the area
Emergency services were called to the beach, just north of Forster, about 11:20am after receiving reports a man had been bitten by a shark while surfing.
NSW Police said first responders found the man with "critical injuries to his upper right thigh".
They pulled him from the water and attempted CPR, but were unable to revive him.
According to lifesavers, the man was in the beach town on a surfing holiday with friends.
Superintendent Christopher Schilt said the man had seen the shark before it attacked and tried to alert other surfers.
"It's believed that when the attack occurred the man did actually see the shark and called out to try and warn others and, very heroically, his friends were able to bring him back in to shore after he had been attacked," Superintendent Schilt said.
Photographs of the bite have been analysed by Department of Primary Industries scientists who believe the man was most likely bitten by a four-and-a-half metre white shark.
The MidCoast Council has responded to the incident by closing beaches from Black Head to One Mile at Forster for at least 24 hours.
Brian Wilcox from the local Surf Life Saving branch said the attack was "unprecedented".
"I can't recall ever having a shark attack in this area," he said.
He said a number of sharks had been spotted in the water since the incident.
"The process for Surf Life Saving now is to keep the beaches closed for 24 hours," he said.
"We've already had a drone up in the air to see if we could spot some sharks in the area.
"There were a couple of sharks spotted, whether they were the one or not, who knows."
Superintendent Schilt said some of the sharks spotted in the area measured up to three metres.
"There were sharks sighted in the area — we were advised that there were at least two sharks of about three metres in length, the species of those sharks is unknown," he said.
"At this stage were are working with Department of Primary Industries who've got people coming down here to identify the species of the shark that did attack the man.
"There was some damage to the board; the board will be getting forensically examined ... we've got scientists from the DPI who are working with our forensic police and they will use the damage from the board to assess what kind of shark it was."
ABC News
)The Department of Primary Industries is deploying SMART drumlines at Tuncurry Beach.
Any sharks caught will be tagged and released 1 kilometre from shore.
Surf life savers will continue to conduct drone patrols around Tuncurry Beach for the next few days.
Water users and beachgoers are advised to follow the NSW SharkSmart Twitter feed or download the SharkSmart app for the latest information on shark movements and sightings.
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2021-05-18 02:54:26Z
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