Sydney beaches stay closed after three shark attacks in two days

Emergency services were called to a beach in Manly in the north of the city on the evening of Jan. 19 following reports a surfer had been bitten by a shark, New South Wales police said in a statement.

Max White, an eyewitness, said another surfer had kept the man alive using his surfboard's leg rope as a makeshift tourniquet to stem the bleeding.

"He was breathing, but he was unconscious, and we just... tried to keep him awake, as well as all the other people around us. Everyone was involved," he told state broadcaster ABC.

Paramedics treated the man for serious leg injuries and taken to hospital in a critical condition.

All beaches in the Northern Beaches, a council area straddling the city's northern coastline, will remain closed until further notice, police said.

The attacks follow days of heavy rain that ran off into the harbor and beaches around the city, creating ideal conditions for the bull sharks suspected to be behind some of the attacks.

The species thrives in brackish water.

"If anyone’s thinking of heading into the surf this morning anywhere along the Northern Beaches, think again," Steven Pearce, the chief executive of Surf Life Saving NSW, told reporters on Jan. 20."We have such poor water quality that's really conducive to some bull shark activity."

Earlier on Jan. 19, a 10-year-old boy escaped unharmed after a shark knocked him into the water, biting a chunk out of his surfboard.

On Jan. 18, another boy was left in a critical condition after being bitten by a shark at a city beach.

Australia sees around 20 shark attacks a year, with fewer than three of those being fatalities, according to data from conservation groups.

Those numbers are dwarfed by drownings on the country’s beaches.