SYDNEY (AP) — A man was seriously injured in a shark attack in Western Australia on Thursday, officials said.
The man was attacked at Wylie Bay in the town of Esperance on Western Australia’s remote southern coast, the state fisheries department said.
Beaches in the area were closed and fisheries officials were trying to catch the shark, though they had yet to determine the species responsible, fisheries department spokeswoman Donna Cole said.
The victim was being flown to a hospital in Perth for treatment, a Royal Flying Doctor Service spokesman said. No other information on his condition was immediately available.
It was the second shark attack in the waters off Esperance in a year. Last October, a man was seriously injured by a suspected great white while diving for abalone off Poison Creek, an area near the town.
Although sharks are common in Australian waters, the country has averaged fewer than two fatal attacks per year in recent decades.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
