Australia closes dozens of east coast beaches after shark attacks

NSW coastline has seen four shark attacks since Sunday, as experts say rainy conditions draw sharks to beach areas.

Dozens of beaches along Australia’s eastern New South Wales (NSW) coastline have been closed following four confirmed shark attacks since the weekend.

The latest attack came on Tuesday near the town of Port Macquarie, about 400km (248 miles) north of Sydney, where a 39-year-old surfer was bitten by a shark at Point Plomer, according to Australia’s ABC News.

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Authorities say the victim escaped serious injury, but beaches around Port Macquarie were shuttered on Tuesday following the attack as the government-run Shark Smart App indicated dozens of recent shark sightings near NSW beaches.

Sydney’s Northern Beaches Council also shuttered its beaches for at least 48 hours after a 27-year-old man was left in critical condition on Monday night following a shark attack at a beach in the Sydney suburb of Manly.

A young surfer at northern Sydney’s Dee Why beach narrowly escaped a shark attack the same day, although the shark bit a chunk out of his surfboard, according to ABC.

On Sunday, a 12-year-old was seriously injured by a shark while swimming at a beach in eastern Sydney, ABC reported.

“If you’re thinking about going for a swim, think of going to a local pool because at this stage, we’re advising that beaches are unsafe,” Steven Pearce, the chief executive of Surf Life Saving New South Wales, told reporters following the beach closures.

The beaches of NSW have been extra busy as Australians enjoy their summer holidays, but experts say recent heavy rains around Sydney have also created ideal conditions for shark attacks.

Brackish water makes it difficult to see, while sewage run-off from rainwater has drawn in baitfish and sharks to coastal areas, according to Chris Pepin-Neff, an academic and expert on shark behaviour.

“Stay out of Sydney Harbour and the beach after a rainstorm. Wait 72 hours after a storm to swim in the harbour and be mindful of swimming or surfing at ocean beaches for 24 hours after a large downpour,” Pepin-Neff wrote on Tuesday in an op-ed for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.