Sydney harbour shark attack leaves woman seriously injured

Shark sightings along Sydney's ocean-facing beaches are common but attacks in its iconic harbour are rare
Jacob Phillips30 January 2024

A woman has been seriously injured in a shark attack in Australia's Sydney Harbour.

Emergency services were called to a private wharf in Elizabeth Bay on Monday evening and found a woman, believed to be in her 20s, with "a serious injury" to her right leg, police in New South Wales said in a statement.

Police said they had been told the woman was swimming off the wharf when the shark attacked her. 

She was taken to hospital in a stable condition, authorities said on Tuesday.

The incident happened about 20 metres from the jetty, media reported, citing residents.

Shark sightings along Sydney's ocean-facing beaches are common but attacks in its iconic harbour are rare. 

Monday's incident took place near the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

"Shark bites are really rare ... the last incident that occurred in Sydney Harbour was in 2009," Amy Smoothey, senior shark scientist at the New South Wales department of primary industries, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Based on the bite patterns and images provided, the woman was likely attacked by a bull shark, she added.

It comes after 15-year-old surfer Khai Cowley was killed in a shark attack in South Australia last month.

Khai was attacked by a suspected great white shark while surfing with his father off remote Ethel Beach on the Yorke Peninsula west of his hometown of Adelaide, authorities said.

Surfers also died in shark attacks in the area in May and October. Their bodies were never recovered.

A 16-year-old girl was also killed by a bull shark in a river in the west coast city of Perth in February, the only other fatal shark attack in Australia during 2023.

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