A 10-year-old boy was rescued and taken to the hospital after a shark grabbed him from a boat off Stanley on the Tasmanian north-west coast. The shark attack on Friday afternoon caused severe injuries to the boy's head and chest, as well as lacerations across the body.
The boy was on the six-meter fishing boat which was about five kilometers offshore when the shark took him from the vessel. When the father of the injured boy jumped into the water, the shark let the boy go and swam away. During the incident, the boy was wearing a personal flotation device.
It was reported that the boy is now in stable condition after being admitted to North West Regional Hospital.
A few hours before the incident, local authorities had issued a shark warning for the area that stated: "Please be advised there has been a large shark sighted in the Stanley area. If swimming or undertaking fishing and other marine activities please take necessary precautions."
The Shark Attacks in Australia
As per the Australian Shark Attack File maintained since 1984 by the Taronga Conservation Society, there are two types of shark attacks -- provoked and unprovoked. A 'provoked' incident relates to circumstances where the person attracts or initiates physical contact with a shark (accidentally or on purpose) or was fishing for, spearing, stabbing, feeding, netting or handling a shark or where the shark was attracted to the victim by activities such as fishing, spear-fishing, commercial diving activities and cleaning of captured fish.
An 'unprovoked' encounter is between a human and a shark, that is in its natural habitat and has made a determined attempt to bite a human where that person is not engaged in any provocative activities.
The data showed that the last injury from a shark bite in Tasmania happened in 2012. However, recent reports revealed that on Tuesday, July 14 a shark documentary maker was mauled by a shark while swimming at a resort island in far north Queensland. The 29 year-old-woman was bitten by the marine animal on the left leg at Fitzroy Island near Cairns.
On Saturday, July 11, a teenage boy died due to his injuries caused by a shark attack when he was surfing at Wilsons Headland at Wooli Beach, off northern New South Wales.
