Surfer recovering after great white shark attack in Western Australia

A surfer is recovering in hospital after being attacked by what is believed to be a great white shark at a popular surfing spot off Australia’s western coast on Monday.

The man, aged in his early 20s, was bitten while enjoying a morning surf near the picturesque Gnarabup Beach, south of Perth.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

A spokesperson for Western Australia Country Health Service told AFP the young man was in a stable condition on Monday evening.
Local authorities closed beaches in the area “to ensure the safety of our community,” while state authorities called on people to report shark sightings.

According to The West Australian newspaper, he was helped by a nurse after he managed to reach a nearby cafe.

Other surfers took him to a local hospital and he was later transferred to the larger Bunbury Regional Hospital, with photos on the newspaper’s website showing him arriving on a stretcher, sitting upright and awake.

More than 100 of the world’s 370-plus shark species live in Western Australian waters — from the 30-centimeter pygmy shark to the world’s biggest fish, the gentle whale shark, which can grow up to 12 meters long.

According to the Taronga Conservation Society’s Australian Shark Incident Database, there have been 16 deadly shark attacks recorded in the waters off Western Australia since 2010, the most recent in February this year, when a teenage girl died.

Read more: Shark kills 16-year-old girl in western Australia