Canberra - An Australian man attacked by a shark at Cid Harbour
off Australia's north-eastern coast, close to the southern end of the
Great Barrier Reef, has died overnight.
The shark attack occurred while the 33-year-old man was swimming off
a private boat with friends on Monday evening in Whitsundays Island
region, close to the area where two local tourists had been mauled in
separate attacks within 24 hours in September.
The bite left the man with critical injuries to his left thigh, right
calf and left wrist. Paramedics treated him on his boat before
emergency crews airlifted him to a local hospital.
But he died in the hospital overnight, emergency staff said Tuesday.
He is the second shark attack victim to die in Australia this year.
Ben McCauley, the emergency helicopter crew member, described the
incident as "absolutely horrific."
"He'd suffered very serious bites, significant blood loss as well as
cardiac arrest," he said.
In the September attacks, a 46-year-old woman and a 12-year-old girl
were bitten by sharks one day apart in the Cid Harbour region.
The pre-teen lost her leg in the attack, which led to a shark bait
operation, in which six sharks were hooked and killed within a week.
The Whitsunday Islands region around Cid Harbour is one of the most
popular holiday destinations in Australia, with more than 750,000
local and international visitors a year.
After Monday's attack, a local politician asked the Queensland state
government to install permanent drum lines around Cid Harbour, like
hundreds of other places along the eastern coast line.
"I think we're flirting with danger when you compare us to other
communities... it's madness," Whitsunday parliamentarian Jason
Costigan told ABC radio on Tuesday.