A 39-year-old man has died after a shark attack on the Great Barrier Reef south of Cairns, after being brought ashore in a critical condition from Kennedy Shoal on Sunday. Emergency services were alerted about midday and later took him back to the Hull River Heads boat ramp near Tully, where he died from his injuries soon after being retrieved from the water.
Queensland police said it would prepare a report for the coroner following the sudden and non-suspicious death of a 39-year-old man in the Cassowary Coast area. Officers said emergency services were called to Hull River Heads boat ramp just before 12pm after reports that a man had been attacked by a shark while out at Kennedy Shoal, a shallow reef about 50km off the Queensland coast between Cairns and Townsville.
The man had reportedly been fishing at the shoal, which is popular for recreational fishing and diving. It was not yet known what type of shark was involved in Sunday’s fatality. Bull sharks and tiger sharks are known to be prevalent along the Great Barrier Reef, while great white sharks also inhabit the reef but are less common in warmer waters.
The death came a week after another fatal shark attack in Australia, when a 38-year-old man died last weekend at Rottnest Island near Perth. He was treated at the scene on Saturday but could not be revived.
Shark attacks remain infrequent, but they have occurred in reefs and shoals along the Queensland coast. The danger at Kennedy Shoal is not new: in 2021, retired US navy diver Rick Bettua survived a bull shark attack at nearby Britomart Reef, about 30km south of the shoal. For the man who died on Sunday, the question is already settled. He did not survive the trip back to shore.
