Shark attack leaves WA surfer serious but stable

A surfer in his fifties was in serious but stable condition after being bitten by a shark at Glenfield Beach in Western Australia on Monday, ABC reported, citing local health authorities.

The state government and local ambulance service said the man was rushed to hospital after the incident. Authorities said they received a report of a “shark incident” at about 9:45 am local time at the beach, just over 400 kilometres north of Perth.

Locals were advised to take additional caution around the beach.

Australian scientists believe increasingly crowded waters and rising ocean temperatures may be shifting sharks' migratory patterns, which may be contributing to a rise in attacks.

A 12-year-old boy died after he was bitten by a shark while swimming in Sydney Harbour in January. Three divers were fatally mauled in separate incidents between May and June, two in Western Australia and one in Queensland. In June, a woman was also mauled by a shark at a popular Sydney beach and later had part of her left arm amputated.

A database of shark encounters with humans records around 1,300 shark incidents around Australia since 1791, including more than 260 deaths.