A 29-year-old man is recovering in a Brisbane hospital after being bitten by a shark off the coast of Moreton Island in Queensland. The attack occurred shortly after 3pm on Saturday near the Wrecks Walking Track on the bay side of the island.
Paramedics treated the man for abdominal and leg injuries at the scene before he was airlifted by rescue helicopter to the Princess Alexandra Hospital. He remains in a stable condition as of Sunday morning.
This incident marks the second shark attack in Moreton Bay in less than a month, following the fatal attack on 17-year-old Charlize Zmuda off Bribie Island in early February. It is also the fourth shark attack in Queensland waters in recent months.
In December last year, 40-year-old Luke Walford was killed by a shark near Humpy Island, and weeks earlier another man was hospitalised after an attack on nearby Curtis Island. Both victims were spear fishing at the time.
The Wrecks Walking Track is a popular snorkelling spot near the Tangalooma resort, where ships were scuttled between the 1960s and 1980s. Experts note a long-term increase in shark bites in Australia, attributing it to a growing population spending more time in the water.
Dr Daryl McPhee from Bond University stated that the risk of a shark bite remains extremely low, with an average of 2.7 deaths annually from 2014 to 2023. He praised Australia's beach rescue services for their rapid response, which likely keeps fatalities low.
