SYDNEY — Australian police are reporting another shark attack, this time off the coast of Tasmania, where a 31-year-old male diver was bitten Saturday morning in what authorities believe was an encounter with a broadnose sevengill shark.
The incident took place at approximately 9:10 a.m. local time (2310 GMT) in the Adventure Bay area of Bruny Island, roughly 50 metres — about 164 feet — from shore. The shark involved is estimated to have been around 2 metres, or approximately 6.6 feet, in length.
Police Inspector Darren Latham described how the situation unfolded in an official statement: “The man was able to return to shore and was assisted by fellow divers.”
The diver suffered non-life-threatening wounds to his forearm and was airlifted to a hospital, arriving in stable condition. Authorities noted no additional sightings of the shark following the attack.
Bruny Island is a remote part of the island state of Tasmania, located about a one-hour flight from the mainland city of Melbourne, which sits roughly 445 kilometres — or 275 miles — away. Approximately 40 percent of the island consists of wilderness or protected lands.
The Tasmania attack is one of several shark incidents that have rattled Australia in recent months. Last month, a 35-year-old woman was left critically injured after a shark attack in Sydney, Australia’s largest city, prompting officials to launch a safety review at popular beaches across the country.
Also in June, a man lost his life after being attacked by a shark while fishing off the coast of Western Australia, marking the most recent fatal encounter.
May brought two more deadly incidents. A 39-year-old man died following a shark attack while fishing on Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef. Just one week before that, a 38-year-old was fatally attacked near an island off Perth in Western Australia.
The trend is not new. In January, dozens of beaches along Australia’s east coast were shut down after four shark attacks occurred within a span of just two days.
Although shark encounters are still considered statistically uncommon, data from the Australian Shark Incident Database — analyzed by Reuters — shows the numbers have been climbing. Australia has averaged close to 29 shark incidents per year over the past decade, a notable increase compared to roughly 16 incidents per year during the 2000s.
