“All beaches closed!” Sydney gripped by shark fever after FOURTH attack in 26 hours

“He was right next to us, 10 metres away. And he just got done.” 

A renowned shark hunter from Newcastle has vowed to swing the two hours south to Sydney to start killin’ bull sharks after a horror twenty six hours that saw four people attacked by sharks, likely bulls, two of the victims fighting for their lives in hospital.

There’s been a helluva lot of rain and the water’s real and warm and dirty with the freshwater run off. It means bull sharks, the hyenas of the ocean, are coming out of the rivers and estuaries and lighting up coastal beaches.

Joel Nancarrow, owner of Hunter Shark Jaw Restoration, a specialised business focused on the preservation, cleaning, restoration, and taxidermy of shark jaws, has described conditions as the perfect storm for bull shark attacks.

“This isn’t scare tactics, this is f*** real life danger. This will not be the last one.”

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Nancarrow vowed to come down and give the bulls hell.

“I will be packing my stuff and I’m going to go down in a couple of days and bag limits will be loosely followed, it’s something I’m willing to do to prove a point and I’ll pay the fine.”

Four shark attacks in 26 hours

On Monday afternoon, a twelve-year-old was hit by a big bull at a harbour beach ten minutes from Bondi, one of his pals hailed a hero after dragging his mate to a nearby rock platform although the kid remains in a critical condition in hospital.

The following day, three hits: an 11-year-old’s board was bitten at Dee Why, just south of where Mercury Psillakis died in the mouth of a Great White in September, a surfer was mauled shortly after at North Steyne, at the northern end of Manly there and just a couple of nautical miles from Dee Why and only fifteen minutes earlier, and just reported, a surfer was knocked off his board by a shark at Freshwater, across the headland from Manly.

Speaking to The Manly Observer, which had extensive coverage of the North Steyne attack, local Freshwater surfer Zack Baker described being belted off his board.

“I was attacked by a bull shark in Freshwater at around 5:20pm. I got knocked off my board and thankfully came out of it unscathed with no injuries. I alerted the shark alarm and the beach was closed shortly after.” 

The Manly Observer confirmed the shark alarm had been sounded at five-twenty.

The surfers who helped the North Steyne victim get to the beach paint a harrowing scene.

“A friend and I were in the surf and we were the only ones, and then a guy came in. He had just got out through the breakers, like when you first get to the lineup and sat on his board and we all gave a little smile and a wave. He was right next to us, 10 metres away. And he just got done.”

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“My mate put him on his board and was pushing him into shore and there was blood on the board and I was trying to pull them to help out. The guy was silenced from the pain, but still conscious, and I kept telling him to not look at his leg and we just kept paddling.

“We screamed at people on the beach to get a tourniquet. It was like 6:20pm or 6:30pm and the lifeguards were off duty.”

Off-duty nurses and doctors tended to the man, in his twenties, until paramedics and a chopper arrived.

All beaches north of the Harbour Bridge remain closed.