A woman has been rushed to hospital after being attacked by a shark in Queensland‘s Whitsundays.
The woman aged in her 50s was on a boat about 10 hours off the coast of Mackay when she was bitten on the lower leg at 4.30pm on Wednesday.
The woman was rescued by HMAS Warramunga after navy personnel were alerted to her injuries following an emergency call.
The woman was treated on the vessel before arriving at Mackay Harbour where she was rushed to Mackay Base Hospital in a stable condition.
She received several lacerations to her lower leg during the attack.
It comes five years after a British tourist had his foot bitten off and a second man was bitten on his right calf during a shark attack in the region.
The men had been wrestling in the water during a day trip in the Whitsundays in 2019, a popular tourist destination, when the shark attacked.
‘The guys were mucking around in the water at the time having a little bit of a wrestle,’ RACQ Rescue Helicopter Service’s Grant Bollington said at the time.
The woman was rushed to Mackay Base Hospital (pictured) in a stable condition
‘The gentleman who lost his foot thought it was his mate pulling on his leg quite hard, then realised there was a shark there.’
‘The shark had a go at his foot, then came back for a second round and grabbed his mate.’
In 2021, a 34-year-old man was reportedly climbing into the back of a vessel when a shark latched on to his left leg at about 6.40pm.
He suffered injuries to his thigh and shin and was taken by boat to a medical centre on Hamilton Island before being flown to Mackay Hospital.
