A 39-year-old man has died after being attacked by a shark on Sunday while he was fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, police said. This is the second fatal shark attack recorded in Australia this month.
The man was one of four people who took a seven-metre-long boat to Kennedy Shoal, a shallow reef around 28 miles off the coast of the state of Queensland in the northeast part of the vast country, Queensland Police Service Inspector Elaine Burns told reporters. She said: “We believe the man had been spearfishing when he was attacked and died from a critical head injury.
“He was retrieved from the water by another person who was in the water with him at the time of the attack.”
It took the boat more than an hour to reach the shore after calling the emergency services, Inspector Burns said.
She added: “He was declared deceased at the boat ramp.”
The man hasn’t been identified by police.
Inspector Burns said it was not yet clear what type of shark had attacked him and added that no one else was injured.
The death follows that of a 38-year-old mauled off an island near Perth in Western Australia on May 16.
There are around 20 shark attacks in Australia every year but the vast majority are not fatal, according to data from conservation groups.
Dozens of beaches along Australia’s east coast, including in Sydney, were closed in January after four shark attacks were reported in just two days.
Those attacks came after heavy rain created murky water that attracts sharks and reduces their visibility.
