Australia shuts dozens of beaches after four shark attacks in two days

Australia shut down dozens of beaches on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, at the height of summer after four shark attacks were reported in the last two days.

Three of the attacks were reported around Sydney, Australia’s largest city, and one occurred in the New South Wales (NSW) town of Port Macquarie.

Officials shut the beaches in NSW’s Port Macquarie on Tuesday after a 39-year-old surfer was attacked by a shark at Point Plomer. The surfer suffered minor injuries but was out of danger.

The Chief Executive of Surf Life Saving New South Wales, Steve Pearce, advised the public to consider pools for swimming instead of beaches, adding, “We are advising beaches are unsafe.”

He said that bull sharks have become unusually active due to murky water caused by heavy rain.

In a separate incident at Sydney’s Northern Beaches area, a man in his 20s was bitten by a shark on Monday. The surfer is in critical condition.

In another incident, a boy escaped a shark attack unharmed at Dee Why Beach.

Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins announced that the officials were shutting down all the beaches at least until Wednesday.

Shark attacks are extremely rare with only 20 injury-causing incidents and fewer than three deaths recorded a year in Australia. 

These numbers are less than the number of people dying from road accidents and drowning every year.