Diver taken to hospital after shark attack near popular West Australian beach

A diver has been taken to hospital after being bitten by a suspected 3m shark near a popular beach — the second attack in Australia this week.

A suspected 3m tiger shark has attacked a diver near a tourist hotspot in Western Australia’s north.

The shark bit the man up to 500m offshore from Quondong Beach, some 50km north of Broome, at 11.20am on Friday.

The man, aged in his 40s, was transported by boat to the popular Cable Beach, then an ambulance took him to Broome Health Campus.

He suffered a laceration to his arm, but it is not a life-threatening injury.

Initial reports from authorities suggested the attack had happened at Cable Beach.

Fisheries advise unknown sp. shark sighted 11:25hrs 21/05, Cable Beach, Broome , Fisheries investigating possible shark bite incident.

— Surf Life Saving WA (@SLSWA) May 21, 2021

“There was probably every cop in Broome just racing down the beach with the lifeguards,” one witness told 6PR radio.

“It was all pretty cool, calm and collected, really. They just got him in the ambulance and drove off.

“He seemed pretty chill ... he looked all right.”

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development said it was working with local authorities.

The man was brought to shore at Cable Beach in Broome.

It is the second shark attack in Australia this week.

Mark Sanguinetti, 59, was surfing when he was killed by a 4.5m white shark at Tuncurry Beach, near Forster on the NSW mid-north coast, on Tuesday morning.

He saw the shark and tried to warn others before the animal turned on him, biting him on the upper right thigh.

Charlie Cernoboriwas, 58, was killed by a bull shark at Cable Beach beach while bodyboarding in November.

He was bitten on the upper thigh and hand.

That fatal attack was the first at the famous beach in almost three decades.