A man has suffered a puncture wound to his back and leg and stomach injuries in a suspected shark attack in Australia.
The 54-year-old was swimming with friends at Shelly Beach in northern Sydney when he was wounded, but he managed to swim to nearby rocks and raise the alarm.
The injured man, from Manly, was treated at the scene and then taken to hospital, with authorities telling PA he was in a stable condition.
The man is an experienced ocean swimmer who has previously swum the English Channel, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Based on photographs of the man’s wounds the shark was a “generally harmless” grey nurse shark whose size was not able to be determined, the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Primary Industries said.
The species is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The incident caused nearby Manly Beach, a popular tourist destination, to be closed for a number of hours on Tuesday.
Shark attacks on Sydney’s northern beaches are not common; the most recent was last November when a man escaped with a deep cut to his foot in an incident at Manly Beach.
Shark attacks are more frequent on the north coast of New South Wales and the coasts of Western Australia and South Australia.
Pic creidt;PA
