catamaran shark attack australia

Three rescued after sharks attack inflatable yacht off Australian coast

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3 sailors reach land safely after sharks nearly sink their catamaran in the Coral Sea

In this photo provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, a partially submerged catamaran is shown during a rescue of 3 sailors in the Coral Sea, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. Three sailors from Russia and France were rescued on Wednesday after the inflatable catamaran they were trying to navigate from Vanuatu to Australia came under attack from sharks, authorities said. (Australian Maritime Safety Authority via AP)

In this photo provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, a partially submerged catamaran, right, is shown during a rescue of 3 sailors in the Coral Sea, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. Three sailors from Russia and France were rescued on Wednesday after the inflatable catamaran they were trying to navigate from Vanuatu to Australia came under attack from sharks, authorities said. (Australian Maritime Safety Authority via AP)

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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Three round-the-world sailors reached land safely Thursday after sharks nearly sank their catamaran in the Coral Sea.

Both of the inflatable hulls on their 9-meter (30-foot) boat were damaged in several attacks by what were thought to be cookiecutter sharks — a small species not considered dangerous to people. Aerial photos of the men’s rescue showed major damage to the boat, which was nearly submerged and a front section of one hull was completely missing.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority coordinated the rescue of the two Russian and one French sailor after they activated an emergency beacon early Wednesday 835 kilometers (519 miles) southeast of the Queensland state city of Cairns. The three were rescued by a Panama-flagged freight ship, which landed them at Mooloolaba Harbor on the Sunshine Coast north of the Queensland capital Brisbane on Thursday, the authority said.

Rescued sailor Stanislav Beryozkin said he suspected the sharks mistook his boat for a whale.

He said the crew had prepared for sharks, but not for such numbers. “There were many. Maybe 20, maybe 30, maybe more,” Beryozkin told Seven News television.

They had used double-layered material to protect the inflatable hulls. “But some of them jump and bite above the double material,” he said.

Beryozkin, Evgeny Kovalevsky and Frenchman Vincent Thomas Garate had left St. Petersburg, Russia, on July 1, 2021, and had been sailing from Vanuatu to Cairns when they got into trouble.

Cookie cutter sharks grow to between 42 centimeters and 56 centimeters (17 inches and 22 inches) long and are named for the circular holes that bite in prey.

Joe Zeller, duty manager at the maritime agency’s Canberra response center, said the emergency beacon had saved the sailors’ lives.

“The emergency beacon absolutely saved their life. It enabled the Rescue Coordination Center to identify the precise location and tailor the most appropriate and quickest response to rescue them,” Zeller told Australia Broadcasting Corp.

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3 sailors rescued after sharks attack and partially destroy their inflatable boat off Australian coast

Updated on: September 6, 2023 / 8:30 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Three sailors from Russia and France were rescued on Wednesday after the inflatable catamaran they were trying to navigate from Vanuatu to Australia came under attack from sharks, authorities said.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it responded to an alert from an emergency beacon at about 1:30 a.m. When rescuers arrived at the scene more than 500 miles east of the Australian coast in the Coral Sea, they found both hulls of the men's 9-meter boat had been damaged after several shark attacks.

The agency enlisted the help of a Panamanian-flagged ship, the vehicle-carrying "Dugong Ace," which was able to complete the rescue and take the two Russians and one Frenchman aboard. A rescue plane also flew to the scene.

"The three males were very happy to be rescued, and they're all healthy and well," said Joe Zeller , duty manager at the agency's Canberra response center.

Footage shot by a rescue helicopter shows the catamaran bobbing in calm seas as it is approached by the hulking Dugong Ace.

The men, aged between 28 and 64, are due to arrive in the Australian city of Brisbane on Thursday.

Zeller said a journey from the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu to Australia on such a vessel would usually take two to three weeks.

Aerial photos showed major damage to the catamaran, with the front section of one hull completely missing.

Zeller said the GPS-encoded emergency beacon had saved the men's lives by allowing rescuers to quickly pinpoint their location and mount an appropriate rescue.

"This is a timely reminder to always carry a distress beacon while on the water," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.  "GPS-equipped EPIRBs and personal locater beacons (PLBs) can save your life in an emergency."

Zeller said there were many reasons why a shark may attack a boat.

"However, the motivations of these sharks is unclear," Zeller said.

The Coral Sea is brimming with reef sharks and other apex species such as tuna and marlin.

According to the Australian government, it is home to more sharks "than almost any other survey site in the world."

Last year, three men whose fishing boat sank off the Louisiana coast were rescued "in the nick of time" by the U.S. Coast Guard after surviving for more than a day despite being attacked by sharks.

AFP contributed to this report.

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Three sailors rescued from shark-bitten catamaran off Australia

Officials said sharks attacked the inflatable catamaran and tore off large chunks of the vessel’s hull.

Three men on board a catamaran off the northeastern coast of Australia have been rescued after sharks tore off sections from the hull of their inflatable vessel, according to officials.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the three sailors – two Russian and one French citizen – were rescued early on Wednesday.

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They were picked up by a Panama-flagged vehicle carrier – the Dugong Ace – while floating in the Coral Sea, some 835km (519 miles) southeast of Cairns in Australia.

Satellite photos and a video on the AMSA website showed a large part of the stern of the nine-metre (30-foot) yacht torn away.

“Both hulls of the vessel have been damaged following several shark attacks,” AMSA said in a statement.

The authority said the sailors, aged between 28 and 64, had planned to sail from the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu to Cairns, a distance of more than 2,000km (1,200 miles). They activated an emergency distress beacon in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The three sailors are due to arrive in Brisbane on Thursday, AMSA said.

“There’s many reasons why vessels are attacked by sharks. However, the motivations of these sharks are unclear,” said Joe Zeller, the acting manager of the AMSA Response Centre. The three sailors “were very happy to be rescued and they are all healthy and well and aboard the Dugong Ace,” he added.

The Coral Sea where the men were found is brimming with reef sharks.

According to the Australian government, it is home to more sharks “than almost any other survey site in the world”.

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Sharks repeatedly attack yacht off Australian coast, forcing sailors to abandon damaged vessel

Nine-metre inflatable catamaran was part of round-the-world expedition, article bookmarked.

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Three people were rescued off the northeastern coast of Australia after multiple shark attacks inflicted damage to their catamaran.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said on Wednesday that both the hulls of the vessel, located in the Coral Sea near Cairns , were damaged after several shark attacks.

Satellite images and a video available on the Amsa website showed a substantial portion of the yacht ’s stern being ripped apart.

“The vessel departed from Vanuatu and was bound for Cairns (Australia) when contact was established,” Amsa said in a statement.

The yacht was located about 835km (519 miles) southeast of Cairns in the Coral Sea when rescue teams responded to the emergency at about 1.30am on Wednesday.

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The nine-metre inflatable catamaran called Tion was reportedly a Russian-registered vessel. The Russian Geographic Society confirmed the catamaran was part of a round-the-world expedition, according to ABC News.

Amsa said in the statement that they sought help from a Panama-flagged vehicle carrier called Dugong Ace and tasked Cairns-based Challenger Rescue Aircraft to the scene, which effectively carried out the rescue operation.

The three passengers – comprising two Russians identified as Evgeny Kovalevsky and Stanislav Beryozkin, and French citizen Vincent Thomas Garate Etienne – are scheduled to reach Brisbane on Thursday.

The spokesperson for the Russian Geographic Society said their expedition commemorated two significant milestones: the 250th anniversary of the birth of explorer Adam Johann von Kruzenstern and the bicentennial celebration of the discovery of Antarctica by Russian explorers.

Catamaran, pictured in Tahiti in June, sailed under a Russian flag

It commenced its journey from St Petersburg on 1 July 2021, with the objective of setting a record for the longest cruising distance covered on a frame-inflatable sailing trimaran, according to local reports.

However, the sailors were rescued from the trimaran, named Russian Ocean Way, off the coast of Chile in March. The Tion-Russian Ocean Way is the second vessel of the expedition, and it was launched in April.

It was also punctured by sharks in Tahiti in June.

Joseph Zeller, an Amsa responder, was quoted as saying by ABC News that “the sailors were very lucky because they had an emergency distress beacon... which enabled us to tell the most appropriate and fastest response to rescue them”.

“They were very well prepared, they were calm, but of course, they were elated to be rescued.”

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A school of 12-inch sharks were able to sink an inflatable 29-foot catamaran in the Coral Sea

Several small sharks about the size of a cigar are to blame for sinking a 29-foot catamaran this week sparking a dramatic night-time at-sea rescue, the vessel's survivors said.

Maritime authorities in Australia recued three sailors early Wednesday after officials said sharks attacked and sunk an inflatable catamaran in the Coral Sea.

The sailing party, two Russians and one French national, were safely pulled from the ocean while on their way to the northern Australian city of Cairnsfrom Vanuatu in the South Pacific, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority reported.

One of the rescued sailors, Russian Evgeny Kovalevsky, told The Guardian cookiecutter sharks are responsible for sinking the sailboat.

“[We were] not scared about our life. We [were] scared about the finishing of expedition,” he told the outlet, adding it was not the first time he'd come under attack by that species of shark.

Kovalevsky told the outlet he encountered them more than a decade ago in the Atlantic Ocean while, ironically, also on an inflatable vessel.

Watch the sailors get rescued after several sharks damaged their inflatable catamaran.

What is a cookiecutter shark?

The cookiecutter, according to the Shark Research Institute, measures an average of 12-19 inches in length and has thick lips and "razor sharp teeth" used to attach itself to prey leaving behind a crater-size wound.

Cookiecutter sharks generally live the oceanic ‘twilight zone ’ in depths to 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) and eat fish, squid, and crustaceans. They usually only surface from the deep at night, the research institute said.

Unlike other large sharks including great whites − known to reach lengths of 20 feet, the small cigar-shaped shark typically does not attack people in open water. However, they have been known to attack objects much larger than themselves like seals and even nuclear submarines, researchers with the institute said.

Sailors rescued after shark attack: Sailors rescued after several shark attacks damage inflatable catamaran in Coral Sea: Video

Two days of attack

In an Instagram post, the group wrote, the sharks first attacked the boat on Monday, leaving "the rear left ball" of the catamaran damaged.

"In an emergency state, the travelers lasted for about a day, they managed to travel about a hundred miles," the group wrote.

The next day, the group said, the ship was attacked again by sharks - this time causing the catamaran to lose its balance and begin to sink.

Crews said they issued an SOS and, about 45 minutes later, the catamaran was approached by a Panama-flagged passing container ship. At that point, the group reported, the captain decided to abandoned the sinking catamaran at sea.

Surfer attacked in Australia: Surfer attacked by suspected great white shark hospitalized, clinging to life

The sinking ship, a radio beacon and an at-sea rescue

An alert from a radio beacon on the catamaran led rescue crews to the vessel about 1:30 a.m. local time, maritime officials reported.

Rescue crews on a Cairns-based Challenger Rescue Aircraft , who confirmed the vessel was damaged from shark attacks, then rescued the three sailors and transported them to shore just outside Brisbane, Australia on Thursday, according to the group and maritime officials.

No injuries were reported.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior correspondent for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @nataliealund.

3 people had to be rescued from their 30-foot inflatable catamaran after sharks attacked the boat, officials say

• Three people were rescued from their inflatable vessel after sharks attacked its hull, officials said.
• The trio were around 510 miles off Australia's northeastern coast, according to rescue authorities.
• When found, the 30-foot catamaran was missing large portions of its hull, rescuers reported.

Three men on board an inflatable catamaran were rescued off Australia's northeastern coast on Wednesday after their vessel was attacked several times by sharks.

The trio — two Russians and one French citizen — were about 510 miles from shore when Australian authorities picked up their distress alert in the early morning, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement.

The Russian vessel had departed from the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu and was heading to the city of Cairns in Queensland, the AMSA said.

Both hulls of their 30-foot catamaran "have been damaged following several shark attacks," authorities added.

Officials said they asked a nearby Panama-flagged ship, the Dugong Ace, to help rescue the three people. A Challenger rescue aircraft was also sent to assist from Cairns.

Related stories

When found, the catamaran had "large sections of its hull missing," AMSA Response Centre manager Joe Zeller said.

"There's many reasons that vessels are attacked by sharks. However, the motivations of these sharks is unclear," Zeller said. 

Footage shot by a Challenger rescue plane shows the state of the vessel when rescuers arrived.

—Matthew Loh (@ma2loh) September 6, 2023

The three sailors are aged between 28 and 64, in healthy condition, and on board the Dugong Ace on their way to Brisbane, Zeller said. Their full trip would likely have taken between two to three weeks, he said.

"The emergency beacon absolutely saved their lives," Zeller added. "It enabled the rescue coordination center to identify their precise location and empower the most appropriate and quickest response to rescue them."

The trio are expected to arrive in Brisbane on Thursday, the AMSA said in its statement.

Sharks and orcas have been making headlines this summer amid a rising number of reports documenting attacks on vessels . But it's still unclear what causes these encounters , or if they are related at all.

Watch: Deep-sea explorers discovered creatures at the bottom of the ocean feasting on decaying whales

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3 Men Rescued from Coral Sea After ‘Several Shark Attacks’ Damage Their Inflatable Catamaran

The trio were rescued in the early hours of Wednesday morning, over 500 miles off the coast of Australia

Three men have been rescued from the Coral Sea after "several shark attacks" damaged their inflatable catamaran.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority confirmed in a media release that both hulls of the 30-foot catamaran had been damaged following the attacks more than 500 miles off the Australian coast.

The three men, who were traveling to the Cairns in the far north of Queensland, were rescued in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The boat’s emergency distress beacon sent out a call at 1:30 a.m. local time. 

russian.ocean.way Instagram

A video posted on the AMSA’s official Twitter, now known as X, shared footage of the search and rescue effort. “Remember to always bring a registered beacon with you when you're out on the water - it could help save your life,” the tweet accompanying the clip read. 

“AMSA requested the assistance of Panama-flagged vehicle carrier Dugong Ace and tasked the Cairns-based Challenger Rescue Aircraft to the scene. Dugong Ace successfully conducted the rescue and collected three people,” the release added.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority via AP

According to NBC News , the men had set off from the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Aug. 28 on the latest stage of an around-the-world trip.

Per the outlet, the sailors, aged between 28 and 64, are said to be unharmed. Their belongings were also saved, but the catamaran was lost.

The trio, two Russians and one Frenchman, are due to arrive in Brisbane, Australia on Thursday morning, the release said. 

Joe Zeller, a senior manager at AMSA, said in a video statement that the catamaran had “large sections of its hull missing,” reported CNN ,  

"An emergency beacon absolutely saved their lives," he continued. “There are many reasons vessels are attacked by sharks but the motivations of these sharks is unclear.”

Zeller added that the men were “very happy” to be rescued. 

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Per the voyage’s Instagram account @russian.ocean.way , the three men onboard were Evgeny Kovalevsky, Stanislav Berezkin and Vincent Thomas Etienne.

According to one post, their vessel was first attacked by sharks on Monday and began to sink on Tuesday.

World News | Fierce little cookiecutter sharks behind the…

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World news | evan low leads joe simitian by three votes; few ballots remain uncounted, world news | fierce little cookiecutter sharks behind the dramatic sinking of a boat at sea.

The dramatic ocean saga that led to three men being rescued this week from a sinking inflatable catamaran off the Australian coast has been pinned on an unusual culprit: a footlong shark that leaves such perfectly round wounds it’s called the cookiecutter.

The sailors, two Russians and one French national, were pulled from the sea on Wednesday on their way to the northeastern Australian city of Cairns from the remote Pacific nation Vanuatu, authorities said.

In an Instagram post after the rescue, the group said the attacks were by cookiecutter sharks, which damaged the rear left balloon of the boat on Monday and left it “completely submerged underwater.” The group lasted another day – until the cookiecutters attacked again late Tuesday, this time biting through the right balloon.

The attacks left their inflatable boat partly sunken, prompting them to issue a distress call to nearby vessels in the early hours of Wednesday. The crew and their belongings were rescued by cargo ship the Dugong Ace, and the sinking catamaran was abandoned in the ocean, the Instagram post said.

“They hunt inflatable boats, and (our vessel) just had many many holes and started to go down,” one of the sailors, Evgeny Kovalevskiy, told CNN affiliate Nine News in a video after the rescue.

The crew was attempting to become the first to circumnavigate the world on an inflatable boat and they’d assess how to continue that journey after arriving in Brisbane later Thursday, Kovalevskiy added.

Unlike great whites or hammerheads, cookiecutter sharks are not usually associated with attacks in the open ocean. The cookiecutter — also known as the cigar shark, for its tubular shape — is barely 18 inches long but it has an appetite for large prey – usually targeting seals, whales and dolphins, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History .

Its unique feeding method is how it got its name. First, the shark entices prey with its glowing underside, which can deceptively look like small fish in the deep ocean. When the prey is close, the shark then uses its sucking lips and sharp upper teeth to attach itself to the larger animal. Then, it spins its body around – using its larger serrated bottom teeth to cut a cookie-shaped chunk of flesh, leaving a circular wound in the prey’s body, according to the museum.

Even submarines have come under attack before, with round chunks torn off their sonar domes.

The museum added that because of its size and deep water habits, the cookiecutter is not considered a threat to humans. Cookiecutter sharks have only been involved in four confirmed, unprovoked bites, which all happened in Hawaii, it said, citing the International Shark Attack File.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said in a statement Wednesday that “a large section” of the inflatable vessel’s hull was missing when it was found.

“There’s many reasons that vessels are attacked by sharks. However, the motivations of these sharks is unclear,” said AMSA duty manager Joe Zeller.

The catamaran’s crew “were very happy to be rescued and they are all healthy and well,” he added.

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3 sailors rescued from inflatable catamaran after shark attack.

Three sailors on an around-the-world journey were rescued from a sinking inflatable catamaran after it came under repeated attack by sharks more than 500 miles off the Australian coast. Sept. 6, 2023

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See the damage caused to a catamaran after shark attacks in the Coral Sea

Three people on an inflatable catamaran were rescued in the Coral Sea, off Australia’s coast, after the vessel was damaged by "several shark attacks."

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The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) say they received a distress call from an emergency radio beacon early on Wednesday and asked for assistance from the nearby Panama-flagged vehicle carrier Dugong Ace.

Aerial footage shows the 9-metre catamaran had a large section of hull missing.

"There are many reasons that vessels are attacked by sharks,” Joe Zeller from AMSA explains. "However, the motivation of these sharks is unclear."

The vessel was on a round-the-world expedition and was located some 835 kilometres from its destination in Australia.

Officials say those rescued, two Russian and one French citizen aged between 28 and 64, are healthy, well and "happy to be rescued.”

See the damage to ship in the video at the top of this article.

With files from Reuters

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‘Shocked’: Teenage girl survives horror mauling by shark at Queensland beach

A 13-year-old girl has survived after she was attacked by a shark at a popular Australian beach.

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A teenage girl has survived a horror shark attack at Bargara Beach in Queensland.

The 13-year-old girl was treated for minor, non-life-threatening puncture wounds to her upper and lower back after the attack on Friday.

Paramedics attended the scene at Fred Courtice Ave on Friday afternoon.

It is understood the attack did not last very long, with the shark biting and letting go quickly enough to not cause major damage.

She was then taken to the local surf club, where her bleeding was brought under control and paramedics were called.

Queensland Ambulance operations supervisor Matthew Davenport said a call was received at about 4pm.

“The young lady had been brought up to the local surf lifesaving club and into the treatment room where they began providing first aid,” Mr Davenport said.

“She’d received a bite to the right side of her abdomen and across the buttocks on the right side.”

He said the injuries were not life threatening and mainly to soft tissue, and the girl was lucky considering the nature of the incident.

“She was quite calm about the situation, still shocked. The parents arrived and were quite shocked at the incident happening,” he said.

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“It is not known to have shark bites in the Wide Bay area.”

Mr Davenport said the teen had remained calm during the initial treatment and worked with emergency services.

The girl has been transported to Bundaberg Hospital in a stable condition.

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Spearfishing is booming in popularity despite the risks of sharks, crocodiles and blackouts

On reefs home to bull sharks, deadly stingers and the odd saltwater crocodile, spearfishers duck dive to the ocean floor with seemingly no fear.

Zachary Schmidt was hooked from the very start.

"I just fell in love with the sport," the 22-year-old says.

"When you're on the bottom, holding your breath, you take everything in – you're in another element."

Spearfishing is one mankind's oldest fishing techniques.

It has exploded in popularity in recent years, due in part to the rise of thrill seekers posting their underwater adventures online.

Armed with a harpoon gun, waterproof camera and an empty ice box, Mr Schmidt regularly makes trips to the Great Barrier Reef, broadcasting the highlights to his more than 150,000 social media followers.

"It is so unique and what you can capture [on camera] down there is so incredible – from whales to manta rays, turtles, sea snakes, there is so much life you get to experience," he says.

But the fisherman admits the sport is not without its risks.

"There are a lot of things in the water that obviously can harm you, but if you do it correctly and do it with a buddy it can be relatively safe," he says.

Danger of shark attacks

Two spearfishermen have been attacked by sharks off the coast of Lucinda in north Queensland in the past seven years.

In 2017, Glenn Dickson was mauled by a bull shark and had his leg amputated during emergency surgery.

In 2020, Rick Bettua suffered significant leg injuries to his upper thigh in another attack.

Friend and veteran spearfisherman Peter Kocica witnessed both attacks firsthand and rendered first aid.

"I consider Rick and Glenn to be lucky – I didn't think they'd survive," he says.

"It opened my eyes to what can happen and how quickly because you are always surrounded by sharks."

It took Mr Kocica more than two years to get back in the water after the first shark attack.

He returned within a week after the second.

The risk of a third attack still plays on his mind, but he can't let the sport go.

"I just love doing it, it's a different world down there," he says.

Shallow-water blackouts

When Mr Schmidt goes spearfishing, he holds his breath for up to 90 seconds at a time.

One of the biggest risks divers can encounter is shallow-water blackouts – a loss of consciousness due to a lack of oxygen.

"Understand when your limit is being pushed and always have a dive buddy there," Mr Schmidt says.

"At the end of the day, if it does happen to you, you can lose your life so it's important that you take it seriously.

"Getting involved in your local dive club or speaking to someone who knows a lot about it can be really valuable."

Most famously, Australian snowboarder Alex "Chumpy" Pullin died from a shallow-water blackout while spearfishing on the Gold Coast in 2020.

Rules apply

As the sport grows in popularity, Fisheries Queensland has urged divers to familiarise themselves with the rules about where they can and cannot spearfish.

"All the normal rules, regulations, size and possession limits for recreational fishing also apply to spearfishers," a spokesperson says.

"Spearfishers should be aware of the weather and sea conditions, use a diver-below flag as well as a diving partner, and use equipment in good condition."

For Mr Schmidt, the sport offers a more sustainable alternative to line fishing.

More and more members are joining his Townsville-based spearfishing club each month.

"Getting to meet all these people is just a really great thing and being out on the water with my friends today is a memory for life," Mr Schmidt says.

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Girl, 13, bitten by shark at beach off coast of Queensland

A teenager has been rushed to hospital after being injured in a shark attack in Australia .

Emergency services were called to Bargara Beach in Queensland at 4pm local time on Friday.

The 13-year-old girl, who has not been named, was treated for minor injuries to her back, legs and abdomen.

The Queensland Ambulance Service said her injuries were non-life-threatening and she was taken to Bundaberg Hospital in a stable condition.

QAS operations supervisor, Matthew Davenport told local reporters: “[She] is very lucky with the injuries she could have sustained.

“The young lady had been brought up to the local surf lifesaving club and into the treatment room where they began providing first aid.

“She’d received a bite to the right side of her abdomen and across the buttocks on the right side.”

He added sharks are usually not spotted at the beach, 400km north of Brisbane in the Wide Bay region.

The girl was said to be very calm during treatment, but she and her parents were shocked by the incident.

A 64-year-old man  was flown to hospital for treatment in January after being bitten by a shark off the coast of  South Australia .

He had been about 200 metres offshore at Blacks, Elliston, at the time, surfing website Swellnet reported.

The man was able to swim back to the shore and went to hospital with a wound on his leg, Southern Australia Ambulance said.

In December last year, Khai Cowley, 15, died following a shark bite he sustained while also surfing in South Australia.

His death was the third fatal  shark attack  in the waters off  South Australia  state in recent months.

Surfers died in shark attacks in remote parts of South Australia in May and October last year. Their bodies were never recovered.

South Australia premier Peter Malinauskas said there have been 11 fatal shark attacks in the state’s waters since 2000.

There were 17 shark attacks in Australia last year, including four fatal attacks, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database.

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‘Very lucky’: teenage girl survives suspected shark attack at Queensland beach

Girl, 13, taken to hospital with minor injuries after suspected shark attack at Bargara beach in Bundaberg

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A teenage girl has been taken to hospital after being injured in a suspected shark attack in central Queensland .

Paramedics were called to Bargara beach near Bundaberg on Friday afternoon after reports of a shark attack.

A 13-year-old girl was treated for minor soft tissue injuries to her back, legs and abdomen.

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The Queensland ambulance service said her injuries were not life-threatening and she was taken to Bundaberg hospital in a stable condition.

#Bargara - One patient is being treated for non-life-threatening minor wounds after a reported shark bite in the water off Fred Courtice Avenue at 4.02pm. — Queensland Ambulance (@QldAmbulance) March 15, 2024

“[She] is very lucky with the injuries she could have sustained,” QAS operations supervisor, Matthew Davenport, told reporters on Friday.

He said the girl was very calm during treatment but both she and her parents were shocked by the incident.

The beach, almost 400km north of Brisbane in the Wide Bay region, was not known for sharks, Davenport said.

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