Shark Attack: Man Killed In Australia, Becomes Country's Eighth Victim In 2020

A shark attacked and killed a 55-year-old man Sunday morning in Western Australia. It marks the eighth fatal shark attack in Australia this year alone, the Associated Press reported.

Police treated the man at Cable Beach before the paramedics arrived. He died on the scene.

Located outside the city of Broome, Cable Beach is situated off the Indian Ocean and is south of Indonesia. The state of Western Australia has a population of about 2.6 million people.

On average, there are about 20 shark attacks every year in the country, according to wildlife conservation officer Dr. Phoebe Meagher.

As for deaths, all but one in 2020 were provoked, which is a record number since 1929. In 2011, there were four fatal attacks, which is the last year with a high number of fatalities.

There is no explanation as to why there are more fatal and non-fatal attacks in 2020, in comparison to past years, according to BBC News. Such situations usually are due to chance and timing.

"Whether you get off with just an interaction or a bump or a bite - I think a lot of that will come down to chance," Nathan Hart, an associate professor of biological sciences at Macquarie University, told BBC News.