Bitten in the neck by a shark during a family fishing trip, he died of his injury an hour later

A 40-year-old man died following a shark attack in Australia on December 28, 2024. He was fishing with family members when he was bitten on the neck.

The bite was fatal. A man died Saturday afternoon after being attacked by a shark off Australia's Keppel Islands, local police reported in a statement.

Bitten on the neck

The 40-year-old victim “was fishing with family members when he was bitten by a shark at about 4:30 p.m.”, police said. According to local ABC, the man was bitten in the neck by the animal.

He was rushed to hospital, succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at 6pm. He was a pastor at the Cathedral of Praise Church in Rockhampton, Queensland, eastern Australia.

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“The Great Shark Highway”

The Keppel Islands are located about fifteen kilometers off the Australian coast. They are located at the eastern edge of the Great Barrier Reef, an area nicknamed “the great shark highway” for its rich shark population.

The abundance of life in the reef attracts large numbers of fishermen, and then sharks, each year in summer. “The main reason they're active is actually fish blood. When they smell that fish blood… it really gets them going,” Dr Gustafson, a specialist in these animals, told our Australian colleagues.

The last fatal shark attack in the region was in 2020. Earlier this month, a shark bit a swimmer off the coast of Queensland.