A fourth person has been bitten by a shark in NSW waters in 48 hours, with calls for state and federal governments to reconsider shark-related measures and do more to protect people.
The 39-year-old man was surfing at Point Plomer, near Crescent Head, on Tuesday morning when the shark bit through his board.
The North Coast Local Health District says the man was taken to hospital with minor cuts and abrasions to one of his legs and has since been discharged.
Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson has called on the Federal Government to provide more funding to combat the risk of shark attacks.
“This has once again highlighted the urgent need for leadership from the federal government, starting with establishing a national summit of experts to boost shark risk education campaigns and provide better information and resources to the states,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
Whish-Wilson said the government must invest in modern alternatives to shark nets and deadly drumlines.
“This includes investments in public education, personal shark shield deterrents, shark watching programs, ecological shark barriers and bite-resistant wetsuits.”
Meanwhile, NSW Opposition MP Brendan Moylan called on the NSW Government to commit to increased drone surveillance of sharks.
“While it is too early to know whether these are tragic coincidences or part of a more worrying trend, the NSW Government should immediately increase shark drone surveillance along our coastline to help manage the risk to swimmers and surfers,” he wrote on social media.
The attacks happened after several days of rain in Sydney, and NSW Police on Monday urged people not to swim in murky, low-visibility waters.
“I would recommend against swimming in the harbor or our other river systems across NSW at this time,” Chief Inspector Joseph McNulty told reporters before the Dee Why incident and Manly attack were reported.
Steven Pearce, CEO of Surf Life Saving NSW, told the ABC that if anyone was thinking about hitting the surf anywhere along the northern beaches they should “think again”.
“We have such poor water quality – it is conducive to bull shark activity. Just go to a local swimming pool as at this stage we advise the beaches are unsafe.”
It comes after a section of Sydney’s beaches were closed after three suspected bull shark attacks in just over 24 hours left two people in a critical condition.
A man in his 20s was attacked at North Steyne Beach in Manly in Sydney’s north on Monday evening and underwent surgery for serious injuries to his lower leg at Royal North Shore Hospital.
That followed an attack on a 13-year-old boy who was swimming near a Sydney Harbor beach in the Vaucluse in Sydney’s east on Sunday. He underwent surgery for injuries to both his legs.
An 11-year-old boy narrowly avoided injury at Dee Why, also on Sydney’s northern beaches, on Monday morning when a shark took a chunk out of his surfboard.
An 11-year-old surfer escaped unharmed after a shark attacked his board at Dee Why on Sydney’s northern beaches. Source: Delivered / Facebook
‘Almost like an F1 pit stop’
NSW Ambulance Acting Chief Inspector Christie Marks said the man attacked in Manly had suffered heavy blood loss and was in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived.
He required 13 units of blood on the way to the hospital, which required the highway patrol to meet the ambulance en route to deliver additional supplies.
“They said it was almost like an F1 pit stop of ten seconds or less, where they just opened the door, blood poured in and then carried on,” said Marks.
“This is something that doesn’t happen often… that will give him the best chance of survival.”
‘Perfect storm’ for shark attacks
All of Sydney’s northern beaches have been closed for at least 48 hours in response.
More than thirty SMART drum lines have been deployed along that stretch of coast, while shark listening stations and aerial surveillance have been expanded.
Pearce said the “murky and brackish” water created excellent conditions for bull shark activity.
Police on Monday urged people not to swim in murky, poorly visible water after rain drenched Sydney and the surrounding area this weekend.
Extra fresh water in the harbor after recent heavy rains, combined with the splashing effect of people jumping off a cliff face, created a “perfect storm” for Sunday’s shark attack, Chief Inspector Joseph McNulty said.
“I would recommend against swimming in the harbor or our other river systems across NSW at this time,” he told reporters before the Dee Why and Manly incidents were reported.
Expert blames Sydney’s sewer pipes
University of Sydney public policy expert Chris Pepin-Neff, who has written a book on shark policy, suggested Sydney Harbour’s 100-year-old sewer pipes were likely to blame.
The pipes are overflowing with just 20mm of rain, far less than the 127mm of rain Sydney received on Sunday.
“When the pipes overflow, when there’s more sewage, the baitfish eat the sewage and then the bull sharks come and eat the baitfish, and that draws them to the surface and the shore,” Associate Professor Pepin-Neff told the Australian Associated Press.
“Three shark bites in two days suggests to me that there is a unique environmental condition that is more than just the heavy rain.”
The Department of Primary Industries is working to identify the shark species involved, but initial reports suggest it was a bull shark.
The teenager injured in the Vaucluse attack remains in a critical condition at Randwick Children’s Hospital on Tuesday.
Several swimmers have been attacked by sharks in the harbor in recent years, including a young woman who was bitten on the leg in Elizabeth Bay in early 2024.
In September 2025, avid surfer Mercury Psillakis, 57, was fatally mauled by a shark at Long Reef Beach on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
Psillakis’ death caused the state government to withdraw a lawsuit to remove a handful of shark nets from popular beaches.
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