Tourist killed, another injured in shark attack on Australian beach

A Swiss tourist was killed and another seriously injured in a shark attack while swimming at a beach on the east coast of Australia.

Police said a woman believed to be in her 20s died at the scene while a man, also believed to be in his 20s, was airlifted in critical condition to a hospital in Newcastle, a city about 160 kilometres north of Sydney.

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Emergency services were called on Thursday morning to Kylies Beach at Crowdy Bay near Port Macquarie, approximately 350 km north of Sydney, after reports of a shark biting two people, New South Wales state police said.

Police Chief Insp. Timothy Bayly said at a news conference that the pair knew each other.

The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that both victims are Swiss nationals, Reuters reported.

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“One Swiss national lost her life, and another Swiss national was injured,” it said in a statement.

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New South Wales Ambulance Supt. Josh Smyth said a witness at the beach applied a “makeshift tourniquet,” potentially saving the man’s life and giving emergency services time to treat him.

“The courage from some bystanders is amazing in this situation,” he told reporters.

“To put yourself out there is heroic, and obviously it did give us time to get to that male patient,” he added.

According to the Department of Primary Industries, the shark responsible was likely a large bull shark. Males can grow to about seven feet in length, and females grow to 11 feet or more. Adults usually weigh between 200 and 500 pounds, according to the National Wildlife Federation’s website.

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The beach remained closed while sharks were identified and tagged in the area so they could be tracked and then released, the BBC reported.

In 2024, there were nine unprovoked shark attacks in Australia and zero fatalities. Worldwide, there were 47 unprovoked attacks and seven deaths, according to the international shark attack report.

While attacks are rare, most occur when a person is wading in water near a shark, which may result in injury if the shark is provoked by contact.

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In February, a Canadian tourist vacationing in Turks and Caicos had both of her hands bitten off by a seven-foot bull shark while swimming in hip-deep water.

Shark bites in the waters off the Turks and Caicos Islands are rare, with only one unprovoked non-fatal attack reported last year.

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In August, a paddleboarder in Nova Scotia got quite the fright after a great white shark sunk its teeth into the side of his board.

Kent Walsh was out for a paddle off Cherry Hill Beach on the South Shore when he was knocked into the water and noticed a shark struggling to unlatch its jaws from his board.

Walsh said he began hitting the shark on the head with his paddle, and it eventually detached from the board, allowing him to reach shore unscathed.

Of all sharks, bull sharks are often considered dangerous to humans because of their aggressive nature and ability to migrate upriver and survive in fresh water. Statistically, sharks are much more likely to be killed by human activity than humans are by shark attacks.

In a typical year, fewer than 20 people die from shark attacks, but more than 20 million sharks die in relation to the fishing industry.

— With files from Reuters and Global News’ Katie Scott