An American tourist as being treated in hospital after being bitten by a Shark while spear-fishing on Britomart Reef, to the north of Townsville, on Sunday 25 October 2020. Rick Bettua, 59, described as a navy diver, was treated by paramedics on a slipway close to the incident, before being airlifted to Cairns Hospital, where he needed to be resuscitated as he had stopped breathing. Mr Bettua was treated for what have been described as 'catastrophic' injuries, and is now reported to be in a critical condition.
Despite their fearsome reputation, attacks by Sharks are relatively rare. Most attacks on Humans by Sharks are thought to be mistakes, made by species that feed principally on Marine Mammals (which we superficially resemble when we enter the water), gaining the majority of their nutrition from the thick adipose (fat) layers of these animals (which we lack). Due to this, when Sharks do attack Humans these attacks are often broken off without the victim being consumed. Such attacks frequently result in severe injuries, but are seldom immediately fatal, with victims likely to survive if they receive immediate medical attention.
Despite this general rarity, Australia appears to be suffering a sharp rise in Shark attacks, with five fatal attacks so far this year, three of them in the past five weeks, as well as several non-fatal attacks, the most recent of which occurred near Fitzroy Island off the coast of Cairns in North Queensland on Tuesday 14 July. Marine biologist Julian Pepperell has suggested that this increase might be linked to a rise in the number of Humpback Whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, passing through Australian waters each year. Humpback Whales are a significant food source for many Sharks; adult Whales are beyond their hunting capacity, but do die of other causes and are enthusiastically scavenged, while larger Sharks such as Great Wights will attack Whale calves. Around 35 000 Humpback Whales currently migrate through Australian Waters each year, according to zoologist Vanessa Pirotta of Macquarie University, a number which is growing by about 11% each year.
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