Fourth shark attack in three days rocks Australia as authorities close beaches and deploy drumlines

A surfer in Australia escaped a shark attack with minor injuries on Tuesday, marking the fourth shark attack off the country’s most populous state in just three days.

The shark struck around 9 a.m. at Point Plomer, about 290 miles north of Sydney, damaging the 39-year-old man’s surfboard, officials said. The surfer suffered only minor cuts.

"The board seemed to take most of the impact," Matt Worrall, captain of the Kempsey–Crescent Head Surf Life Saving Club, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. "He made his own way into shore where he was assisted by locals."

Bystanders drove the surfer to a hospital, where he was treated and later released.

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The latest incident follows a string of attacks along the New South Wales coast. On Sunday and Monday, a man and a boy suffered critical leg injuries in separate attacks near Sydney, while another boy escaped unharmed after a shark bit his surfboard.

Authorities closed beaches along New South Wales’ northern coast and in northern Sydney, saying the closures would remain in place for at least 48 hours. Electronic drumlines designed to alert officials to the presence of large sharks were deployed offshore.

"If anyone's thinking of heading into the surf this morning anywhere along the northern beaches, think again. We have such poor water quality that’s really conducive to some bull shark activity," Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steve Pearce said.

"If you're thinking about going for a swim, just go to a local pool because at this stage, we’re advising that beaches are unsafe," Peace added.

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Authorities believe bull sharks are likely responsible for several of the attacks around Sydney, noting that recent heavy rainfall has increased murky freshwater runoff into Sydney Harbor.

One of the most serious attacks happened Sunday when a 12-year-old boy was attacked after jumping from a 20-foot ledge known as Jump Rock near Shark Beach in eastern Sydney. Police said the boy survived only because friends leapt into the water and pulled him to shore. Local media reported he lost both legs.

"He is in for the fight of his life now, and the actions of emergency services yesterday gave him that chance," said Superintendent Joseph McNulty of the New South Wales Police Marine Area Command.

An 11-year-old boy escaped unharmed Monday after a shark bit his surfboard at Dee Why Beach, and later that evening a surfer in his 20s was bitten on the leg at North Steyne Beach and hospitalized in critical condition.

Sydney’s northern beaches, including Dee Why and North Steyne, remained closed. Officials said it was unclear whether the attacks occurred near shark netting. Pearce said the Point Plomer area is isolated and does not have nets.

Dee Why Beach is near the site where a 57-year-old surfer was killed by a suspected great white shark last September. In November, a 25-year-old Swiss tourist was killed and her partner seriously injured in a separate attack north of Sydney.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.