A scuba diver sustained non-life-threatening injuries after being bitten by a shark off Adventure Bay in Tasmania on Saturday, marking the latest in a series of shark incidents in Australian waters.
The 31-year-old man was diving approximately 50 metres offshore near Bruny Island when he was attacked by what authorities believe to be a 2-metre broadnose sevengill shark at around 9.10am local time (2310 GMT). According to Police Inspector Darren Latham, the victim managed to return to shore with assistance from fellow divers before being airlifted to hospital in a stable condition.
Details of the Adventure Bay shark attack
A witness at the scene told ABC News the group had been spearfishing on scuba equipment when the incident occurred. The diver, who had speared a fish, was bitten while retrieving it from his spear. Police confirmed no further sightings of the shark in the remote area, where roughly 40 per cent of the island remains designated as wilderness or protected land.
Recent rise in Australian shark incidents
This attack follows a string of high-profile incidents, including a critical injury to a 35-year-old woman in Sydney last month and a fatal attack on a fisherman off Western Australia in June. Earlier in May, a 39-year-old man died after being attacked while fishing on Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef, and a 38-year-old was fatally mauled near Perth the week prior.
Dozens of beaches along Australia’s east coast were temporarily closed in January after four shark attacks occurred within two days. While such encounters remain statistically rare, data from the Australian Shark Incident Database indicates a gradual increase, with the country averaging nearly 29 incidents annually over the past decade—up from roughly 16 per year in the 2000s.
