A 12-year-old boy is in critical condition after being viciously attacked by a large shark while swimming in Sydney Harbour on Sunday afternoon. The incident, which is the second shark attack in the area in just two days, has prompted authorities to warn the public against entering the water.
The attack occurred around 4:20 pm near Nielsen Park in the city’s east, as the boy was jumping off a popular rock ledge with a group of friends. According to police, the group’s quick actions in pulling the boy to safety and the swift response of emergency services likely saved his life.
“The actions of his mates who’ve gone into the water and pulled him out have been nothing but brave,” said Superintendent Joe McNulty of the New South Wales Police Marine Area Command. “All I can say is the actions between police, the team who were doing CPR at the time, it was extraordinary. It was a textbook recovery to give this boy a fighting chance for survival. He’s in for the fight of his life now, and the actions of emergency services yesterday gave him that chance.”
The boy suffered serious injuries to both of his legs, and had to be rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Paramedics said a tourniquet applied by police shortly after the attack was “definitely a life-saving intervention.”
Experts believe the shark responsible was likely a bull shark, which are known to be well-adapted to feeding in the murky, brackish waters of Sydney Harbour. The recent heavy rainfall has further worsened visibility and created the perfect conditions for a shark attack, according to authorities.
“At the moment we’ve experienced a lot of freshwater in the harbour, it’s brackish water so you can’t see the bottom,” McNulty said. “So I would recommend not swimming there right now. It’s not a good time to swim.”
This is the fourth shark attack in Sydney Harbour over the past 50 years, with the last serious incident occurring in 2014 when a woman was severely injured by a bull shark in Elizabeth Bay. Daryl McPhee, a shark expert at Bond University, warned that sharks often follow the movement of smaller fish, which can be disrupted by heavy rainfall.
“The rainfall moves fish around areas such as Sydney Harbour, and the sharks will follow those fish,” McPhee said. “They can find things to eat very well in those conditions.”
Beaches in the vicinity of Nielsen Park, including Shark Bay Beach and Camp Cove Beach, remain closed as authorities continue to monitor the situation. A shark was also sighted in the area on Monday afternoon, prompting further evacuations from the water.