Pearce said the move would “stop people from entering the water whilst we have these dangerous swimming and surfing conditions”. The 48-hour closure will extend the decision to shut the northern beaches amid dangerous conditions on Monday morning.
Dayyan Neve was among the heroes who rushed to treat the man, wrapping a tourniquet around the man’s leg as he fell out of consciousness. Neve said the victim had suffered “graphic” injuries by the time he was brought to shore.
“The poor guy, I don’t think he was feeling much by then … we were just talking to him and we were all just trying to keep him awake,” Neve said.
“Surfers stick together … we all know to grab a tourniquet … when there’s talk of a shark attack, all of us would do it for each other.”
Dayyan Neve was among those who rushed to the man’s aid. Credit: James Brickwood
Neve said there were “more sharks than I’ve ever seen” at Manly, noting he had surfed the breaks at North Steyne his entire life and wouldn’t be allowing his teenage daughter in the water for the “next little while”.
Neve was accompanied on the scene by Max White, who reported “lots of blood in the water” as he praised the two surfers who brought the man to shore.
“The current was pretty strong – the surf wasn’t super-big, but the current was pulling him further and further out, and those guys did a really good job of pulling him all the way in,” said White, who also raised concerns with the number of sharks being spotted on the northern beaches.
“Now I am scared to go surfing at Manly – this is my local beach, I surf here every day. I went for a surf here this morning.”
Max White, Dayyan Neve and Kel Lavers all rushed to the scene. Credit: James Brickwood
Local surfer Luca Attanasio was walking on the foreshore when he saw crowds of people descending on the beach as surfers waved their surfboards in the air to attract the attention of nearby lifeguards.
“I heard somebody say someone’s drowned, and I knew straight away it was a shark,” Attanasio said.
“I’m pretty rattled … being a surfer from around the area, you just want to make sure it’s nobody you know.”
The attack occurred hours after an 11-year-old boy was attacked by a shark at nearby Dee Why Beach, in which the child fled the water unharmed after being knocked off his surfboard. Witnesses at Dee Why reported observing a bull shark in the water, up to 150 centimetres long.
The man was loaded into an ambulance after CPR was performed. Credit: James Brickwood
It is the third shark attack in Sydney in two days after a 12-year-old boy was attacked at an eastern suburbs beach on Sunday. He continues to fight for his life in hospital after being bitten by a large bull shark while swimming with friends at a popular jump rock in Vaucluse.
A tagged bull shark was detected in waters off North Narrabeen Beach just after 6.30pm on Monday, according to Dorsal, while surfers at nearby Avalon Beach reported being approached by a shark about lunchtime, prompting a swift evacuation to the shore.
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Manly local Sol Giuendling said the three successive shark attacks were “pretty scary”, and suggested further action was needed to ensure swimmers felt safe at the beach.
“It’s not even the first one that’s happened today,” Giuendling said. “It’s too much.”
Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane called three shark attacks in such quick succession “unprecedented”, citing NSW Surf Life Saving records, and called for increased beach monitoring programs to improve confidence among beachgoers over summer.
“While it’s too early to determine whether these are tragic coincidences or part of a more concerning trend, the government must immediately further increase drone surveillance until we address the risk to swimmers and surfers,” Sloane said.
“We are all thinking of the victims of these attacks and their families and praying for their recoveries.”
The northern beaches attacks come four months after Mercury Psillakis was killed by a shark at nearby Long Reef Beach.
Before that fatal attack, the 57-year-old spotted an adolescent white shark while in the water with a group of other surfers, and instructed them to form a huddle to protect themselves as they moved toward shore.
Psillakis’ widow Maria pushed for a revamp of the shark alert systems at Sydney beaches, saying that “questions need to be asked” about the measures to protect surfers in the wake of her husband’s death.
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