A surfer in Australia escaped a shark attack with minor injuries on Tuesday, marking the fourth shark attack for the country’s most populous state in just three days.
The shark struck around 9 a.m. near Point Plomer, about 470 miles north of Sydney, and damaged the 39-year-old man’s surfboard, officials said. The surfer suffered only minor cuts.
“The board seemed to take the brunt of the impact,” Matt Worrall, captain of the Kempsey-Crescent Head Surf Life Saving Club, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “He went to the coast on his own, where he was assisted by locals.”
Bystanders took the surfer to a hospital, where he was treated and later released.
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People walk on the sand at North Steyne Beach in Sydney on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, following a series of shark attacks. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
The latest incident follows a series of attacks along the New South Wales coast. A man and a boy suffered serious leg injuries in separate attacks near Sydney on Sunday and Monday, while another boy escaped unharmed after a shark bit his surfboard.
Authorities closed beaches along the New South Wales north coast and in northern Sydney and said the closures would remain in place for at least 48 hours. Electronic drumlines designed to alert officials to the presence of large sharks were deployed offshore.
A couple looks out at North Steyne Beach in Sydney on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, after a series of shark attacks. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
“If anyone is thinking of getting into the surf anywhere along the northern beaches this morning, think again. We have such poor water quality that this is really conducive to bull shark activity,” said Steve Pearce, CEO of Surf Life Saving NSW.
“If you are considering swimming, just go to a local pool as at this stage we advise that beaches are unsafe,” Peace added.
A man is stationed at North Steyne Beach in Sydney as he uses a drone to scan the water, Tuesday, January 20, 2026, following a series of shark attacks. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
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Authorities believe bull sharks are likely responsible for some of the attacks around Sydney, noting that recent heavy rains have increased the murky discharge of freshwater into Sydney Harbour.
Authorities believe bull sharks, like the one pictured above, may have been responsible for at least two of the previous shark attacks. (Luis Javier Sandoval/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
One of the most serious attacks occurred on Sunday when a 12-year-old boy was attacked after jumping from a six-metre high ledge known as Jump Rock near Shark Beach in Sydney’s east. Police said the boy only survived because friends jumped into the water and pulled him to shore. Local media reported that he lost both legs.
“He now faces the fight of his life, and the actions of emergency services yesterday gave him that opportunity,” said Chief Inspector Joseph McNulty of the New South Wales Police Marine Area Command.
A net enters Sydney Harbor on a closed beach at Vaucluse in Sydney, Monday, January 19, 2026, a day after a 12-year-old boy was attacked by a shark. (Sitthixay Ditthavong/AAP image via AP)
An 11-year-old boy escaped unharmed after a shark bit his surfboard at Dee Why Beach on Monday, and later that evening a surfer in his 20s was bitten on the leg at North Steyne Beach and hospitalized in a critical condition.
Sydney’s northern beaches, including Dee Why and North Steyne, remained closed. Officials said it was unclear whether the attacks occurred near shark nets. Pearce said the Point Plomer area is isolated and has no nets.
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Dee Why Beach is close to where a 57-year-old surfer was killed by a suspected great white shark last September. In November, a 25-year-old Swiss tourist was killed and her partner seriously injured in a separate attack north of Sydney.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
