Man critical after Manly shark attack; third Sydney attack in two days

A man is fighting for his life after he was attacked by a shark at North Steyne Beach on Monday evening – the third shark attack in Sydney in two days.

Emergency responders were called to Manly just before 6.30pm on Monday following reports that the man, believed to be aged in his 20s, was attacked while surfing and suffered major lacerations to his leg.

He was pulled onto the shoreline near the North Steyne Surf Life Saving Club by two other surfers, before bystanders used leg ropes as makeshift tourniquets to stem the bleeding from the man’s calf.

Intensive care paramedics rushed down the sand to treat the man, who was administered CPR while hordes of beachgoers watched on. He was taken by ambulance to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition.

Several ambulance vehicles and two helicopters were deployed to Manly. An emergency helicopter landed on the Manly shoreline shortly before 7pm to assist the medical response, which was also supported by police.

A livestream from a beach camera, set up for surfers and swimmers to check the water conditions, captured thrashing in the water at the time of the attack.

Earlier on Monday, an 11-year-old boy was knocked into the water by a shark at Dee Why. A chunk was torn out of his board, but he escaped unharmed. On Sunday, a 12-year-old boy was bitten by a large bull shark near a Sydney Harbour beach at Vaucluse. He remains in a critical condition in hospital.

The Dorsal shark alert system reported that a water evacuation was issued at Manly Beach on Monday afternoon due to a shark sighting.

Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steven Pearce said the organisation couldn’t recall a period of three attacks in about 24 hours, echoing comments made on Monday afternoon about the “concerning” spike in shark attacks around Sydney.

All beaches on the northern beaches will not reopen until Thursday, following a decision by the NSW government, Surf Life Saving NSW and Northern Beaches Council in the hours after the Manly attack.

Pearce said the move would “stop people from entering the water whilst we have these dangerous swimming and surfing conditions”. The 48-hour closure will extend the decision to shut the northern beaches amid dangerous conditions on Monday morning.

Dayyan Neve was among the heroes who rushed to treat the man, wrapping a tourniquet around the man’s leg as he fell out of consciousness. Neve said the victim had suffered “graphic” injuries by the time he was brought to shore.

“The poor guy, I don’t think he was feeling much by then ... we were just talking to him and we were all just trying to keep him awake,” Neve said.

“Surfers stick together ... we all know to grab a tourniquet ... when there’s talk of a shark attack, all of us would do it for each other.”

Neve said there were “more sharks than I’ve ever seen” at Manly, noting he had surfed the breaks at North Steyne his entire life and wouldn’t be allowing his teenage daughter in the water for the “next little while”.

Neve was accompanied on the scene by Max White, who reported “lots of blood in the water” as he praised the two surfers who brought the man to shore.

“The current was pretty strong – the surf wasn’t super-big, but the current was pulling him further and further out, and those guys did a really good job of pulling him all the way in,” said White, who also raised concerns with the number of sharks being spotted on the northern beaches.

“Now I am scared to go surfing at Manly – this is my local beach, I surf here every day. I went for a surf here this morning.”

Local surfer Luca Attanasio was walking on the foreshore when he saw crowds of people descending on the beach as surfers waved their surfboards in the air to attract the attention of nearby lifeguards.

“I heard somebody say someone’s drowned, and I knew straight away it was a shark,” Attanasio said.

“I’m pretty rattled ... being a surfer from around the area, you just want to make sure it’s nobody you know.”

The attack occurred hours after an 11-year-old boy was attacked by a shark at nearby Dee Why Beach, in which the child fled the water unharmed after being knocked off his surfboard. Witnesses at Dee Why reported observing a bull shark in the water, up to 150 centimetres long.

It is the third shark attack in Sydney in two days after a 12-year-old boy was attacked at an eastern suburbs beach on Sunday. He continues to fight for his life in hospital after being bitten by a large bull shark while swimming with friends at a popular jump rock in Vaucluse.

A tagged bull shark was detected in waters off North Narrabeen Beach just after 6.30pm on Monday, according to Dorsal, while surfers at nearby Avalon Beach reported being approached by a shark about lunchtime, prompting a swift evacuation to the shore.

Manly local Sol Giuendling said the three successive shark attacks were “pretty scary”, and suggested further action was needed to ensure swimmers felt safe at the beach.

“It’s not even the first one that’s happened today,” Giuendling said. “It’s too much.”

Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane called three shark attacks in such quick succession “unprecedented”, citing NSW Surf Life Saving records, and called for increased beach monitoring programs to improve confidence among beachgoers over summer.

“While it’s too early to determine whether these are tragic coincidences or part of a more concerning trend, the government must immediately further increase drone surveillance until we address the risk to swimmers and surfers,” Sloane said.

“We are all thinking of the victims of these attacks and their families and praying for their recoveries.”

Premier Chris Minns told 2GB on Tuesday the state’s warnings and communications when sharks are more active or conditions are more dangerous could be bolstered, and existing shark mitigation measures like nets at metropolitan beaches would not be removed.

“We’re keeping them, despite the fact that there’s pressure to remove them,” he said.

“We can’t have a situation where they’re removed and we have further shark attacks on major metropolitan beaches.”

The government abandoned a planned trial to remove shark nets at three beaches after Mercury Psillakis was killed by a shark at Long Reef Beach in September, near where the boy was attacked at Dee Why on Monday.

Before the fatal Long Reef attack, the 57-year-old spotted an adolescent white shark while in the water with a group of other surfers, and instructed them to form a huddle to protect themselves as they moved toward shore.

Psillakis’ widow Maria pushed for a revamp of the shark alert systems at Sydney beaches, saying that “questions need to be asked” about the measures to protect surfers after her husband’s death.