A shark attacked a surfer off an ocean beach in Sydney on Monday in the Australian city’s third shark attack in two days, officials said.
The surfer, believed to be in his 20s, was in a critical condition in hospital with serious leg injuries after the attack on a beach in Sydney’s north, police said.
“The man was pulled from the water before emergency services arrived by first aiders,” New South Wales state police said. he said in a statement.
All beaches in Sydney’s north were closed until further notice.
JEREMY PIPER / REUTERS 
The attack happened on Manly’s North Steyne Beach, hours after a shark took a large chunk out of a young surfer’s board, 2.5 kilometers north of the coast at Dee Why Point.
That surfer, said to be an 11-year-old boy, was uninjured but the beach was immediately closed.
on sunday a large shark bit a 12-year-old boy he played with his friends on a beach in Sydney Harbour, leaving him in hospital fighting for his life.
The boy and his friends were jumping from a 20-metre cliff into the water at Shark Beach in the eastern suburb of Vaucluse when the predator struck, police said.
“It was a horrific scene when the police arrived. We believe it was something like a bull shark that attacked the boy’s lower limbs,” said Superintendent Joseph McNulty, NSW marine police commander.
“That guy is fighting for his life right now,” he told reporters Monday.
A “perfect storm” for a shark attack
Heavy rains had recently entered the harbor, and officials believed the combination of saltwater from the sea and children’s splashes created a “perfect storm” for the shark attack, McNulty said.
He warned people not to swim in harbors or other river systems in New South Wales because of the dangers.
He praised the boy’s “brave” young friends for pulling him from the water on Sunday.
Officers placed the unconscious child in a police cruiser and administered first aid, applying two tourniquets to stop the bleeding in his legs, McNulty said.
Paramedics rushed across the harbor to a pier where they tried to revive the boy.
The child, who police confirmed was 12, was in intensive care at Sydney Children’s Hospital surrounded by family and friends, McNulty said.
FLAVIO BRANCALEONE / REUTERS 
There have been more than 1,280 shark incidents in Australia since 1791, more than 250 of which resulted in death, according to a database of human encounters with predators.
The International Shark Attack File, a global database of shark attacks run by the University of Florida, noted an “inordinate” number of people. 2023 deaths from shark bites in Australia compared to other countries in the world.
Increasingly crowded waters and rising ocean temperatures appear to be affecting shark migration patterns, which could contribute to increased attacks even as overfishing depletes some species, scientists say.
A great white shark Surfer Mercury Psillakis mauled died on a popular ocean beach north of Sydney in September.
Two months later, a the bull shark killed a woman Sydney’s north beach swimming from the far side.
Two Americans have been killed by sharks in the last month. Less than two weeks ago, 56 years old Minnesota woman dies After a shark attack in the US Virgin Islands.
At the beginning of the month, the authorities intervened California confirmed 55-year-old Erica Fox died in a shark attack. It disappeared in Monterey Bay at the end of December. The coroner determined that Fox “suffered from blunt and force injuries and was submerged in water as a result of a shark attack.”