‘Wound is quite deep’: Man managed to swim to safety after shark attack in Tasmania

A man has been rushed to hospital following a shark attack in Tasmania’s south.

The 31-year-old - Australia’s sixth shark attack victim this year - was spearfishing when the predator latched on but he remarkably escaped, swimming 50 metres back to safety.

The incident unfolded about 9am around a local dive spot at Adventure Bay, when three local spearfishermen returned to a spot they knew well.

“They have all the gear, they’ve been down there several times over the last two weeks is my understanding,” Darren Latham from Tasmania Police said.

But about 50-metres offshore from Coal Point, it all went wrong.

A 31-year-old man was attacked but made the painstaking swim back to safety and remarkably escaped with his life.

He was airlifted to Royal Hobart Hospital and is in a stable condition suffering injuries to just one arm.

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“It’s actually a laceration, it’s quite deep and the wound is quite deep through the arm,” Latham said.

It’s the first shark attack in Tasmania since 2020.

The incident caught tourist Mark Neilson unaware, as he was fishing with his family around the corner.

“I was just probably in up close to me waist, hence the reason I’ve got shorts on,” Neilson told 9News.

He snapped a picture this afternoon of, what he says, is a seal being chased by a shark.

Police say there was a sighting of a great white shark in that area a few months ago. Today, they were patrolling the water but have not seen the shark since.

“Whilst we have not sighted the shark ourselves at this stage, the divers have indicated that the shark is a Broadnose Sevengill shark, that’s what they’ve described to us,” Latham said.

Police are urging visitors to remain vigilant and report any sightings.