A surfer is recovering in the hospital after experiencing a shark attack believed to be caused by a great white shark at a popular surfing spot off Australia’s western coast on Monday.
The victim, a man in his early 20s, was bitten while enjoying a morning surf near the picturesque Gnarabup Beach, located south of Perth.
A spokesperson for the Western Australia Country Health Service confirmed that the young man was in stable condition on Monday evening.
In response to the incident, local authorities promptly closed beaches in the area “to ensure the safety of our community.” State authorities also urged people to report any shark sightings in the region.
According to reports in The West Australian newspaper, the injured surfer was assisted by a nurse after managing to reach a nearby cafe. Other surfers then helped him get to a local hospital, and he was later transferred to the larger Bunbury Regional Hospital. Photos on the newspaper’s website showed him arriving at the hospital on a stretcher, sitting upright and awake.
Western Australian waters are known to be home to over 100 shark species, ranging from the small 30-centimeter pygmy shark to the massive gentle whale shark, which can grow up to 12 meters long.
The Taronga Conservation Society’s Australian Shark Incident Database has recorded 16 fatal shark attacks in the waters off Western Australia since 2010, with the most recent incident occurring in February of this year, resulting in the death of a teenage girl.