Fourth Shark Attack in 48 Hours on Australia’s New South Wales Coastline Sees Surfer, 39, Hospitalized with Chest Wound

NEED TO KNOW

• A 39-year-old man was attacked by a shark while surfing on Australia’s New South Wales coastline on Tuesday, Jan. 20

• NSW Police Force confirmed that he sustained a chest wound in the attack that required hospital treatment

• The incident marks the fourth shark attack in the area in just 48 hours

A surfer is recovering from a chest wound after becoming the victim of the fourth shark attack on Australia’s New South Wales coastline in just 48 hours.

At around 10:15 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Jan. 20, a 39-year-old man was surfing at Point Plomer on the Mid North Coast when “a shark took hold” of his surfboard, according to the New South Wales Police Force’s (NSW Police Force) news release.

The man was treated for a wound to his chest after a bystander rushed him to the Kempsey District Hospital, per 10 News.

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Following his discharge from the hospital, the man reported the shark attack at Kempsey Police Station.

NSW Police Force confirmed that nearby beaches have been closed following the incident, including Point Plomer Beach, One Palm Beach, Back Beach and Queens Head.

When contacted by PEOPLE, a spokesperson for the NSW Police Force said, “Unfortunately, there is no further information available at this time.”

Photos obtained by 10 News show a chunk of the man’s surfboard missing from where the shark bit and a large hole in his wetsuit. The surfer has not been publicly identified at this time.

“[He’s] very fortunate to not have sustained any serious injuries,” Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive, Steve Pearce, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Referring to the heavy rain in recent days, Pearce continued, “After a big weather event, there’s always going to be a lot of run-off and outflow of creeks into the ocean and river mouths.”

“We really strongly advocate that nobody swim or surf near river mouths because it’s obviously an area where sharks congregate,” he added.

The attack at Point Plomer comes a day after a surfer in his 20s sustained serious leg injuries when he was bitten by a shark at North Steyne Beach, Manly, in New South Wales. He remains hospitalized in a critical condition.

A few hours before, an 11-year-old boy had to be rescued from a suspected bull shark at Sydney’s Dee Why Beach, News.com.au reported. The shark “bit his surfboard,” but the boy was uninjured in the attack.

A 13-year-old boy was also left critically injured after being bitten by a shark in Sydney Harbour on Sunday, Jan. 18, while jumping off rocks at the end of the beach.

University of Sydney public policy expert Chris Pepin-Neff told the Australian Associated Press that Sydney Harbour’s 100-year-old sewage pipes may have also contributed to the recent shark attacks.

“When the pipes overflow, when there’s more sewage, the bait fish eat the sewage and then the bull sharks come to eat the bait fish, and that draws them into the surface and into the shore,” Associate Professor Pepin-Neff told the outlet.

He added, “Three shark bites in two days suggests to me there’s a unique environmental condition that is more than just the heavy rain.”

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