A 38-year-old man has been killed by a shark on Rottnest Island in Western Australia on Saturday.
Police Sergeant Michael Wear at Rottnest Island Police Station said the fatal attack happened just before 10am at Horseshoe Reef, north of Marjorie Bay on the western end of the island.
Wear said the man's injuries were horrific. The victim was bitten on the lower legs.
A five-metre white shark was spotted 80 metres offshore about the time of the attack, according to Surf Life Saving WA.
Television news footage showed paramedics and police treating the wounded man on the jetty.
It also showed a Water Police boat tethered to a smaller boat equipped with spearfishing gear.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development urged people to take extra caution.
Rottnest Island is one of Western Australia's most popular tourist destinations.
The most recent fatality was a 12-year-old boy who died after being attacked by a shark in Sydney Harbour in January.
That attack was one of four recorded in the span of two days, which prompted officials to close dozens of the city's beaches.
It was the city's third recent shark-related death.
Australian scientists believe increasingly crowded waters and rising ocean temperatures are swaying sharks' migratory patterns, which may be contributing to a rise in attacks.
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