Suspected bull shark fatally mauls young Swiss tourist on an early morning swim
A woman has died and a man is in a critical condition after a shark attacked both swimmers, aged in their 20s, at a NSW mid-north coast beach on Thursday morning.
A young woman has been killed by a suspected bullshark after setting out for an early morning swim on the NSW mid-north coast, as her boyfriend was saved by a heroic bystander who wrapped his bitten leg with a tourniquet.
Police said the move by a witness on the unpatrolled beach could have “saved his life” in a two-person attack labelled by marine experts as “unusual”.
The unidentified man sustained serious injuries to his leg; the bystander wrapped the limb with a makeshift tourniquet before he was airlifted to the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle and is now in a stable condition.
The two victims are believed to be Swiss couple in their 20s and are yet to be formally identified.
It is believed the woman was attacked first before her boyfriend sustained heavy wounds to his right leg.
The couple are believed to have inadvertently filmed the attack while videoing their swim with dolphins before the man was able to get his girlfriend to shore, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Fellow Kylie Beach campground visitor Nick Preston told The Australian “They were staying at the campground. They arrived last night around 8.30-9pm. About 7.45-8am today I saw three police cars with plain clothes officers packing up a little blue two-person tent and their belongings.
“We have been told they were tourists by other people staying in the park.”
About 6.30am, emergency services were called to the scene at Kylie Beach in Crowdy Bay National Park – a four-hour drive north of Sydney.
Multiple ambulance resources, including an air support helicopter, attended and provided first aid to the couple.
Despite the valiant efforts of witness and NSW Ambulance paramedics, the woman was unable to be revived and died at the scene.
The beach remains closed and police have not contacted the victim’s families as investigations continue and a corner’s report is prepared.
Twenty-two shark fatalities have been recorded around Australia in the past six years, making it the most deadly six-year period for fatal attacks in almost 90 years.
Emeritus professor of marine ecology at Macquarie University Robert Harcourt said,
“It’s unusual when one person is taken for another person to get bitten. It depends why the bite occurred. Quite a few bites occur when there is a school of fish and a shark is defending its food resource.
“Attacks usually occur when there are a lot of people in the water and sharks are feeding nearby. If the shark was going in to feed and if the other person came to rescue them, the shark could take this as a threat.”
Surf Life Saving NSW has deployed surveillance drones in the area to assess activity in the water and warn potential swimmers.
“Patrolled beaches often have drones and you often see sharks quite near people and surfers who have no idea that a shark is close by. Unpatrolled beaches are more dangerous as you are much less likely to get out of the water because you just can’t see them,” Professor Harcourt said.
James Turner of Surf Life Saving NSW on Thursday said “there (were) no patrols on at that time. We just had people deployed to the area to assist with an incident that happened quite quickly, and they were already responding there.
“We are working with the authorities now about getting that information out to the public about beach closures, especially if we anticipate a lot of people wanting to go to the beach. We need to get signage and get that message out there.”
Mid-Coast Council mayor Claire Pontin told The Australian on Thursday: “Our staff have been assisting National Parks and Wildlife staff and Emergency Services to close all beach access points.”
Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steven Pearce told 2GB radio the incident occurred at “quite a remote location”.
“These incidents are horrific for everyone, and unfortunately, we’ve had a few this year already. We’re thinking of all of those people dealing with this at the moment.”
On Thursday morning, local Nationals federal member for Lyne, Alison Penfold, extended her “deepest condolences” to the victims, their families and the wider community in what she labelled “a devastatingly tragic loss of life”.
“I am deeply heartbroken by the news that a young woman has lost her life in a shark attack at Crowdy Bay and that a young man has been airlifted to the John Hunter Hospital in a critical condition. At present, the identity of the victims has not been revealed.
“I cannot imagine the pain and shock that family and loved ones are going through right now. I extend my deepest condolences to them and the wider Crowdy community.”
This follows the death of surfer Mercury Psillakis, who died from catastrophic injuries suffered during an attack while surfing near Sydney’s Dee Why in September.
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