A surfer was seriously injured by a shark off the Australian east coast on Friday, less than a week after a fatal attack, police said, according to AP. The man, aged in his 40s, sustained puncture wounds to his legs and hands in the dawn attack at Evans Head, 550 kilometers (340 miles) north of Sydney, police said in a statement. He was taken by ambulance to Lismore Base Hospital in serious but stable condition, police said. Evans Head is 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the tourist town of Ballina where 32-year-old surfer Matt Lee was critically injured by a shark on July 2 and Japanese tourist Tadashi Nakahara, 41, was mauled to death while surfing in February. Recreational diver Damian Johnson, 46, became the second victim of a fatal shark attack in Australia this year when he was mauled on Saturday off the island state of Tasmania, 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) south of Ballina. Sharks are common off Australia's beaches, but fatal attacks are rare. The country has averaged fewer than two deadly attacks per year in recent decades.
