A morning surf session on Western Australia’s coastline ended in a dash to hospital after a shark bit a man in his 50s, according to the state government and the local ambulance service.
Authorities said they received a report of a “shark incident” at about 9.45am local time (2.45am Irish time) at Glenfield Beach, a stretch of sand just over 400km north of Perth.
The man was taken for treatment and is in a “serious but stable condition”, national broadcaster ABC reported, citing local health authorities.
In the wake of the incident, locals were urged to take extra care around the beach.
The latest attack comes as Australian scientists point to changing conditions at sea. They believe more people in the water and warming ocean temperatures are altering sharks’ migratory patterns — a shift that may be helping drive an increase in encounters.
In January, a 12-year-old boy was killed after a shark bite while swimming in Sydney Harbour.
Between May and June, three divers were also fatally mauled in separate incidents — two in Western Australia and another in Queensland.
June also brought a high-profile attack at one of Sydney’s most popular beaches, where a woman was mauled by a shark.
The woman, a school teacher, last month described how she threw a “left hook” at the predator before it dragged her underwater.
After the 13 June attack, she was placed in an induced coma and had part of her left arm amputated.
Australia has recorded around 1,300 shark incidents since 1791, and more than 260 of those ended in death, according to a database tracking encounters between sharks and humans.
