Australian shark attacks in 3 months at Cid Harbor off Whitsunday Island

CANBERRA, Australia – A shark killed a man in a port on the island of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, where two tourists were maimed for several consecutive days in September. The series of attacks has left authorities struggling to explain an apparent escalation of danger in an internationally renowned holiday destination.

The 33-year-old victim was one of 10 friends who left Monday morning from Airlie Beach, Queensland, aboard a rented yacht, on a five-day cruise. the idyllic islands of Whitsunday. I said.

They cast anchor 14 miles from Airlie Beach to Cid Harbor, with the intention of spending their first night in the popular protected anchorage of Whitsunday Island, the largest uninhabited island in the group, did he declare.

The victim was taking turns, a woman standing on a paddle or swimming in the harbor late Monday afternoon. He had plunged into the water to give the woman his turn on the board when he was attacked, O Connell said.

"They did everything imaginable to try to save the man"

There were more than a dozen yachts in the harbor at the time. French-speaking tourists launched a dinghy from their yacht and rescued the man, said O. Connell.

They took the victim to his own yacht, where most members of the group had a medical history, including two doctors.

"Despite all their efforts, the injuries were too serious," O Connell told the press.

The victim was taken by helicopter to the Mackay Base Hospital, 60 km south, where he died.

"The CPR lasted a very long time and everything was done to save that man's life," said O. Connell, referring to cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

"They did everything imaginable to try to save the man – it's just – the injuries were so serious," he added.

Justine Barwick, a 46 year old tourist, was attacked on September 19th while she was swimming on a yacht in Cid Harbor and she is recovering. Hannah Papps, a 12-year-old tourist, was attacked in the same harbor while she was swimming from a yacht the next day, losing a leg.

The last shark attack on the Whitsunday Islands prior to the last wave took place on February 13, 2010, off Dent Island, where the 60-year-old Patricia Trumbull survived buttock lacerations. to a significant loss of blood.

Tourism Whitsundays General Manager, Peter O'Reilly, had said at the time that the Trumbull attack was the first in the islands for 13 years and only the third had been recorded.

"We just do not know why this is happening"

Daniel Gschwind, managing director of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council, which represents more than 3,000 tourism businesses, said Tuesday that authorities were methodically investigating why the unprecedented series of attacks had occurred and whether environmental changes were a factor.

"We must now have scientific knowledge and research on the causes of this outbreak of shark interactions and interactions, we simply do not know why this is happening and who is responsible for it", said Gschwind.

The shark species involved in the attacks have not been identified.

Police and fishing boats patrolled Tuesday in Cid Harbor and advised yacht tourists to stay out of the water, O Connell said.

The authorities killed six sharks in the Cid Harbor area a week after the September attacks, with the aim of reducing their numbers in the busy tourist spot. Critics have argued that killing sharks is not the answer.

Gschwind called for a scientific answer to the latest tragedy.

Australia has not experienced a deadly shark attack since April 17 last year and it has averaged less than two deadly shark attacks a year in recent decades.