Victorian man dies after being attacked by shark in the Whitsundays
A man who was attacked by a shark in Cid Harbour in the Whitsundays has died in hospital.
The 33-year-old Victorian had been on a charter boat with friends on Monday and had gone paddle boarding, police said, before he was bitten about 5.30pm.
The man was airlifted to Mackay hospital in a critical condition with bites to his left thigh, right calf and left wrist, an RACQ Rescue spokeswoman said.
Police confirmed early on Tuesday that he had died of his injuries.
The man was part of a group of 10 people on a 40 foot sailing boat that left Airlie Beach from Amity Point, police said.
When the vessel arrived in Cid Harbour, the man and a woman were taking turns paddle boarding in the water. When the man got off the paddle boat and into the water, he was bitten by the shark.
French-speaking tourists in a nearby vessel launched a tender to reach the pair and brought them back to their boat. Two doctors who were part of the man’s group provided imme- diate first aid and the Queensland Ambulance Service was notified.
A rescue crewman, Ben McCauley, described the man’s injuries as “absolutely horrific”. “He’d suffered very serious bites, significant blood loss as well as cardiac arrest,” he said.
The critically ill man had been resuscitated twice in less than 45 minutes, McCauley said, before he could be transferred by tender back to shore and flown to hospital.
The attack happened in the same waters where two tourists were mauled in separate attacks within 24 hours in September.
A Tasmanian woman, Justine Barwick, 46, was bitten on her left thigh while snorkelling on 19 September and underwent 18 hours of surgery.
A Melbourne girl, Hannah Papps, 12, received a life-threatening bite to her right leg while swimming in shallow water the following day. She lost her leg in the attack.
Water police along with Queensland and federal government agencies will conduct patrols of Cid Harbour today in a bid to provide reassurance to tourists and the boating community.