Australia Sees 4th Shark Attack in 3 Days

A surfer had minor injuries from being bitten by a shark Tuesday in the fourth attack off the coast of Australia's most populous state in three days, per the AP. The shark attacked the man's surfboard at Point Plomer, 290 miles north of the New South Wales state capital, around 9am, officials said. The man was lucky to survive with minor cuts, Kempsey-Crescent Head Surf Life Saving Club captain Matt Worrall said. "The board seemed to take most of the impact," Worrall told Australian Broadcasting Corp. "He made his own way into shore where he was assisted by locals." The bystanders drove the 39-year-old man to a hospital and he was later discharged.

In the earlier attacks, a man and a boy suffered critical leg wounds and the surfboard of another boy was bitten by sharks at three Sydney locations Sunday and Monday. Beaches along the New South Wales' northern coast and northern Sydney were closed indefinitely following the attacks, and electronic drumlines that alert authorities when a large shark has taken bait were deployed off the Sydney coast. Authorities warned that recent rainfall has left the water off area beaches murky, which increased the risk of bull shark attacks. Bull sharks are responsible for most attacks around Sydney.

The three Sydney beaches where the attacks occurred have some form of shark protection netting. It was not immediately clear where the attacks occurred in relation to that netting. Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steve Pearce said the scene of the latest attack was isolated and did not have shark netting. "If anyone's thinking of heading into the surf this morning anywhere along the northern beaches, think again. We have such poor water quality that's really conducive to some bull shark activity," Pearce said. The boy in Sunday's attack had been jumping into Sydney Harbor with friends when he lost both legs. Police have credited the boy's friends with saving his life by dragging him back to shore.