Point Plomer: Shark mauls surfer near Port Macquarie in fourth attack in two days
Surfers spotted a group of sharks before one of the ocean predators launched an attack.
A surfer has been mauled by a shark in the fourth attack in less than 48 hours in NSW.
A group of surfers were in the water at Point Plomer, near Port Macquarie, about 10.15am on Tuesday when one was bitten. It came moments after the surfers had spotted a group of about four sharks nearby.
Paul Zvirzdinas was surfing the remote break when he was knocked from his board before a shark bit his chest through his wetsuit, he told The Daily Telegraph.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.He managed to paddle back to shore before a family member who is a nurse took the 39-year-old to Kempsey Hospital for treatment.
“I am pretty shaken but just happy to be here alive with my family,” he said, noting he was just glad he’d lived to tell the story.
Police said upon discharge from hospital, Mr Zvirzdinas attended Kempsey Police Station where the incident was reported.
The shark involved is believed to be a bull shark.
Following the terrifying incident on the Mid North Coast, authorities ordered the closure of beaches from Queens Head to Big Hill.
It comes after three shark incidents on Sydney beaches in just 26 hours, including a man left in critical condition after an attack at Manly’s North Steyne Beach on Monday night, a 12-year-old bitten at Nielsen Park in Vaucluse, and an 11-year-old boy’s surfboard bitten at Dee Why on Monday.
In response, all of the city’s northern beaches have been closed for at least 48 hours.
After the third attack and before the latest incident, Steven Pearce, CEO of Surf Life Saving NSW, warned people to stay out of the water.
“Do not enter the water for swimming or surfing for the next 48 hours. This is unprecedented. To have this in the 24 hours,” he said on Sunrise on Tuesday morning.
He said beach closures across the Northern Beaches were in place for 48 hours due to “turbidity and just the murkiness of the water”, with lifeguards on jet skis, drones at ten beaches, a rescue helicopter and 34 drumlines deployed.
Shark experts have warned of a bull shark spike over the next week due to warm waters, storm runoff and poor visibility.
David Baxter said bull sharks thrived in current conditions: “The fact is that the conditions were just right for a species like a bull shark, we’ve got dirty water, a lot of the runoffs from the creeks and the drains, and that stimulates the curiosity of sharks,” he told the ABC.
They investigate by biting since they “don’t have hands, so they feel with their mouth,” often severing arteries. He advised avoiding murky, overcast days.
The spate of attacks have renewed calls for a shark cull, including from former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
“Three shark attacks in three days in Sydney. This didn’t happen because of the weather or time of day but because there are too many sharks,” he said on social media.
He said it was “way past time to reintroduce the shark fishery” in Sydney Harbour.
University of Sydney public policy expert Chris Pepin-Neff, who has written a book on shark policy, suggested Sydney Harbour’s 100-year-old sewage pipes were likely to blame.
The pipes overflow with just 20mm of rain. More than 120mm fell on Sunday.
“When the pipes overflow, when there’s more sewage, the bait fish eat the sewage and then the bull sharks come to eat the bait fish, and that draws them into the surface and into the shore,” Associate Professor Pepin-Neff told AAP.
“Three shark bites in two days suggests to me there’s a unique environmental condition that is more than just the heavy rain.”
State officials are working to identify the species of shark involved in each incident.
