A 10-year-old boy in Tasmania had a narrow escape after being ‘grabbed’ by a shark while he was on a fishing expedition with his father.
‘A 10 year-old boy has been taken to the North West Regional Hospital following a shark attack this afternoon [July 17] off Stanley on Tasmania’s North West Coast,’ explains Ambulance Tasmania in a statement.
‘The boy, from the North-West, was aboard a six-metre vessel on a fishing expedition about five kilometres from shore with his father and two other men when a shark grabbed him from the boat. The boy’s father jumped into the water at which point the shark swam off.’
The boy, who had been wearing a personal flotation device, was taken to hospital following the attack and is in stable condition. He unfortunately sustained lacerations to his arm, chest and head.
This incident follows after a shark warning was issued by the police to beachgoers, according to The Guardian.
There have been many shark attacks in Australian waters in 2020 thus far. CNN reports that there have been five fatal shark attacks in the country this year, the most recent being a 15-year-old surfer who had died on the scene after the incident which occurred on July 11.
According to the Australian Shark Attack File, there have been 639 recorded shark attacks in the country since 1791, of which 190 were fatal.
Shark Spotters says that while shark attacks occur all over the world, the main hotspots are the USA, Australia and South Africa.
‘Since records started for South Africa in 1905, there have been a total of 248 unprovoked attacks in South Africa. Of these most of them (103) have occurred in the Eastern Cape, 90 in KZN and 55 in the Western Cape,’ says Shark Spotters.
‘There are three species of shark in South Africa which are responsible for the majority of attacks – tiger, bull (or Zambezi) and white sharks.’
Globally, the great white shark is responsible for the majority of attacks. In 2015, there were 98 reports of unprovoked shark attacks, making it the highest recorded number ever. Of the 98, six died.
Image credit: Unsplash
