Woman in Sydney seriously injured in fourth Australia shark attack in recent weeks

A woman has been seriously injured in a shark attack off a Sydney beach in the fourth incident of its kind in recent weeks.

The 35-year-old woman suffered serious leg and arm injuries when she was bitten by a large shark while swimming about 30 metres off Coogee Beach, east of Australia's largest city, on Saturday morning.

Police said in a statement: "The ​woman was pulled from the water by members ‌of the public who commenced first aid."

A witness to the attack, Nicola Logan, said she spotted a "massive pool of blood" in the water before seeing "a lady kind of motioning to swim, lots of splashing, and then a ski paddler was out trying to bring her in".

New South Wales Ambulance inspector Mike Corlis told reporters at Coogee Beach: "She has large flesh wounds to the leg and the arms that are going to require a lot of surgery."

Coogee Beach and others in the city's Randwick Council area will remain closed for 24 hours because of the attack.

Council Mayor, Dylan Parker, said: "We'll be working closely with the New ‌South Wales government, awaiting instruction as to when it is safe to reopen."

This is the fourth time people were attacked by sharks off Australia in recent weeks.

Last week, a man died after being attacked by a shark while spearfishing off New South Wales.

In May, a 39-year-old man suffered fatal head injuries in a shark attack while fishing on Queensland's Great Barrier Reef and ten days earlier, a 38-year-old was mauled to death off an island near Perth, in Western Australia.

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Dozens of beaches along the country's east coast, including Sydney, were closed in January after four shark attacks in two days.

The attacks followed heavy rain that created murky water, attracting sharks and reducing visibility.

Most shark attacks happen along the east and southeast seaboard of Australia, which averages around 20 such incidents a year, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

(c) Sky News 2026: Woman in Sydney seriously injured in fourth Australia shark attack in recent weeks