Swimmers scrambled to flee a popular Sydney beach on Wednesday after a bull shark sighting.
Lifeguards rushed to sound a shark alarm, forcing oceangoers out of the water in panic.
Social media footage from Coogee Beach showed waves crashing at shore as people looked out over the water, with loud alarms ringing in the background.
In the clip, lifeguards could be heard giving an urgent call to attention to swimmers over a loudspeaker.
“Attention from the lifeguards, we’ve had a number of reports of a bull shark in the area,” he said.
Paddleboarders nearby were told to help a swimmer back to shore – given sharks are less likely to attack groups of people together.
“For one of those board paddlers out there – one of the clubby boards – can you please paddle in with that guy swimming,” the lifeguard shouted. “Stay safe.”
Local community groups in Maroubra, the suburb home to Coogee Beach, also issued a notice to residents to stay out of the sea.
Social media footage from Coogee Beach showed waves crashing at shore as people looked out over the water
Sydney beaches have been forced to shut in recent days following a spate of attacks
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Thursday’s shark panic came as grim details of one of four shark attacks in Sydney this week emerged.
A 12-year-old boy, now named as Nico Antic, was mauled by what was believed to be a bull shark on Sunday afternoon.
Young Nico suffered devastating injuries to both his legs as his friends watched on – before paramedics rushed to the scene, applying tourniquets and performing CPR.
Though he is alive in hospital, it is thought he will never wake up.
Paramedics rushed to the scene after 12-year-old Nico Antic was mauled by what was believed to be a bull shark on Sunday afternoon
A family member told the Mail: “He is still asleep, but will not be able to make it because his brain is completely unresponsive.”
Alongside the boy, a further three people have been injured in shark attacks in New South Wales over the last week.
On Tuesday, a 39-year-old surfer was hospitalised after an attack around 12 miles north of Port Macquarie.
Just a day prior, another man was left in a critical condition following a bite at Manly on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
Earlier on Monday, an 11-year-old boy escaped unharmed when a shark chomped on his surfboard at Dee Why, also on the Northern Beaches.
Ex-PM Tony Abbott called on the NSW Government to reinstate commercial shark fishing in Sydney Harbour | GETTYIt’s thought that warm water has created ideal circumstances for bull sharks – and murky conditions from recent storms are attracting the predators’ interest and limiting swimmers’ ability to spot approaching danger.
Chris Pepin-Neff, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Sydney, said untreated sewage flowing into harbour waters may also have contributed to the attacks.
“After 20 millimetres of rain, the level of faecal matter and raw sewage that are in the harbour attracts bait fish and brings sharks toward the bait fish,” he explained.
One public figure who has put forward a solution has been former PM Tony Abbott – who urged the NSW Government to reinstate commercial shark fishing in Sydney Harbour to solve the spate of attacks.
“There needs to be fewer sharks,” he told news.com.au, later writing on social media: “We cannot put the protection of sharks ahead of the safety of people.”
