A 39-year-old man has died after being attacked by a shark while spearfishing near a reef off the coast of Queensland, Australia's north-eastern state, police confirmed on Sunday. The attack occurred at Kennedy Shoal, a shallow reef popular with recreational fishers located about 45 kilometres off the Cassowary Coast — a stretch of coastline between the cities of Cairns and Townsville. The man suffered a critical head injury during the attack and could not be revived.

The victim had travelled to the reef on a private vessel with three companions. Another person in the water at the time managed to retrieve him, and emergency services were waiting at a boat ramp when the group returned to shore roughly an hour later. He was declared dead on arrival. Police Inspector Elaine Burns described the experience as "quite a terrifying thing to see happen in front of you" and said authorities were providing support to the man's three companions. Police are preparing a report for the coroner, classifying the death as "sudden and non-suspicious."

The incident is the second fatal shark attack in Australia within the space of a week. The previous weekend, a 38-year-old man named Steven Mattaboni was fatally bitten on the lower legs while spearfishing near an island off the coast of Perth, in the country's south-west. Mattaboni, who leaves behind a wife and two young children, was described by his family as a devoted father and an avid fisherman.

While shark encounters are relatively common in Australian waters, fatal attacks remain rare. Data from the Australian Shark-Incident Database shows that over the past decade, an average of 27 shark incidents involving injuries occurred each year, with an average of 2.7 fatalities annually. So far this year, three people have been killed — already more than half the total of five deaths recorded in all of last year. For context, drowning claims far more lives along Australia's coastline: 357 people drowned in Australian waters last year.

The spate of incidents has drawn renewed attention to the risks faced by spearfishers, who operate in open water away from the shark-mitigation measures — such as nets and drumlines — that protect popular swimming beaches. Experts have previously noted that factors including heavy rainfall and resulting runoff can attract fish and, in turn, sharks closer to areas where people are active in the water.