After four shark attacks in 48 hours, NSW authorities urge beachgoers ‘just go to a pool’

A surfer has been taken to hospital after being bitten by a shark off the coast of a New South Wales national park campground, the state’s fourth incident in 48 hours.The local health district said the man, 39, was in hospital in a stable condition with minor injuries. The attack took place near the Point Plomer campground, less than 20km up the coast from Port Macquarie, on Tuesday morning.The man escaped serious injury and was recovering with minor cuts and grazes, the Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive, Steven Pearce, told the ABC.“If anyone’s thinking of heading into the surf this morning, anywhere along the northern beaches, think again,” Pearce said.“We have such poor water quality that’s conducive to bull shark activity. We have two people critically injured in hospital this morning. Just go to a local pool, because at this stage, we’re advising that the beaches are unsafe.”Donna Wishart, a communications manager at Surf Life Saving NSW, said the agency had activated drone surveillance and lifeguard teams in the area near Crescent Head, who were travelling to the beach on jetskis.She confirmed the group had been told the man suffered grazes to his leg after coming into contact with a shark.In an Instagram post, Port Macquarie Australian Lifeguard Service said beaches between Town beach and Crescent Head had been closed due to a “shark bite incident”.The NSW Department of Primary Industries was aware of the incident and said it would release a statement later in the day.The Sydney region has seen a spate of shark attacks in recent days following a period of heavy rain.A 12-year-old boy remains in hospital after he was bitten near Sydney’s Nielsen Park on Sunday.An 11-year-old surfer had his board bitten by a shark at Dee Why on Monday and a man thought to be in his 20s remained in a critical condition after he was bitten by a shark at Manly beach on Monday evening.A ferry sails past a closed beach at Vaucluse in Sydney. Photograph: Sitthixay Ditthavong/APExperts say brackish and murky conditions in Sydney Harbour and along the coastline made swimming much more dangerous, drawing in sharks and the bait fish they eat. NSW police urged the public to avoid the water in such conditions.All beaches on Sydney’s northern beaches were closed until at least Thursday, as were many in the Vaucluse area.Shark bites are rare in Sydney Harbour. Before Sunday, there had been just four in the past 50 years, including a woman who was seriously injured after a bull shark bit her leg in Elizabeth Bay in 2024.But experts said bull sharks were opportunistic hunters, and shark bites could happen as the animals sought to eat whatever was in front of them.General advice for swimmers includes swimming in groups, avoiding swimming at dawn and dusk and staying out of the ocean and waterways after heavy rainfall, especially in and around estuaries, due to the murky conditions.“Bull sharks are one of the few species of sharks and rays that can tolerate brackish and even freshwater for extended periods, which means they are especially comfortable moving in and out of river mouths and turbid coastal waters after heavy rain,” Jodie Rummer, a professor of marine biology at James Cook University, said in a statement.“We also have more people in the water than ever before, which naturally increases the chance of encounters. The key message is being shark smart.”