An Australian woman was attacked by a shark Sunday after the wind blew her roughly 650 feet away from the shore on her pool floaty, according to Newsweek.
#Breaking: Shark attack reported at Wylie Beach in Esperance, teen in hospital. https://t.co/O07zk8rhqB pic.twitter.com/j84HxFqPjY
— The West Australian (@westaustralian) February 6, 2022
The shark attacked the woman near the Australian town Esperance, Newsweek reported. The attack occurred near the location of two other prior fatal shark attacks. (RELATED: ‘It’s Pretty Unprecedented’: Surfer Killed In Shark Attack, Beaches Closed)
The victim is currently recovering in the hospital, according to the outlet.
“She just seemed to be getting deeper and deeper and deeper,” said Barry Brown, a witness to the attack, according to ABC News. “Then we actually saw a figure under the [pool ring] and we weren’t quite sure whether it was a dolphin or what it was.”
“Then it knocked her off — we could see the shark’s tail come out of the water and into the air,” Brown added, according to the outlet. “The shark actually circled the [pool ring] a couple of times and then took back off into the blue.”
Brown said that he could see a “trail of blood” in the water behind the woman while he was swimming out to bring her back to shore, ABC News reported. Brown and others at the beach wrapped the woman in a towel and drove her to the hospital.
The species of shark responsible for the attack is currently unknown, though a 10.8 foot great white shark was later reported as being nearby according to Newsweek. Riggs Australia, a Facebook page focusing on wildlife, also claims to have captured footage of a shark swimming close to the scene of the attack, according to the outlet.