Emergency services are responding to a fatal shark attack that occurred on Sydney's Northern Beaches on Saturday morning. The incident took place near Long Reef, where a man was pulled from the water by bystanders before emergency crews arrived shortly after 10 a.m. Despite efforts to revive him, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sophie Lumsden, a local resident who was at Dee Why beach during the attack, described the atmosphere as quickly turning somber. "I was sitting at the beach having a coffee and the shark alarm went off. Two minutes later, four ambulances turned up," she said. "There is someone on the beach but it doesn’t look like they are doing much treating. They haven’t taken them off the beach yet, and cops are surrounding them. It doesn’t look good."

Authorities from the Northern Beaches Police Area Command have closed the beach and are working with experts from the Department of Primary Industries to identify the species of shark involved. Two sections of a surfboard have been recovered for examination.

As a precaution, beaches from Manly to Narrabeen have been closed while investigations continue. The identity of the victim has not yet been confirmed.

At the time of the attack, a junior surfing competition was reportedly taking place nearby. The last fatal shark attack in Sydney occurred in 2022, when diving instructor Simon Nellist was killed by a great white shark at Little Bay. This incident marked the first deadly shark attack in nearly six decades. In 1963, actress Marcia Hathaway was fatally bitten by a bull shark in Middle Harbour. More recently, in 2024, kayaker Lauren O’Neill survived an attack by a bull shark while swimming near Elizabeth Bay wharf.