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Shark attack - Two separate shark attack incidents have occurred in Gracetown, in south-west Western Australia on April 16.

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First - The first attack was concentrated on the two legs of a local surfer. 

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Suspended - The attack forced the Margaret River Pro surfing competition to be temporarily suspended.

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Paddle - Victim Alejandro Travaglini managed to paddle back to shore.

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News - According to www.9news.com.au the surfer was attacked by a four-metre great white shark.

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Air lifted - Travaglini was then airlifted to the local hospital, where he is reportedly in a stable condition after having operations on both legs.

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Second - In a crazy set of circumstances, a second man was also bitten by a shark on the same stretch of shore.

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Danish - A Danish man suffered minor injuries when he was bitten on the leg at the Lefthanders surf break, about 270 kilometres south of Perth.

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Bite - The man was left with significant bite marks on his leg and surfboard. A shark tooth was embedded in his leg.

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Unaware - The tourist was unaware that the beach was closed due to the first shark attack.

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Close - Both the attacks took place less than one kilometre from each other.  

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Suspect - No one is sure if the same shark is the culprit for both attacks. 

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Whale carcass - According to www.sbs.com.au the reason for so much shark activity could be a whale carcass that washed up locally.

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Closed - Beaches in the Gracetown area were closed following the first attack, including North Point, Big Rock, and Lefthanders. A shark warning was issued for waters between Kilcarnup and North Point.

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Alert - An alert was also issued about a whale carcass found at Lefthanders, with beach users warned the decomposing carcass could draw sharks close to shore.

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Tourniquet - The first victim was saved by quick-thinking fellow surfers, who tied tourniquets around his bleeding legs.

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Surf pro - Travaglini is a work crew member at the Margaret River Pro, which was put on hold for an hour after the first attack.

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Punch on - Various news outlets report that Travaglini's mates said he punched the shark until it let him go.

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Comp - Organisers decided to resume the local competition about an hour later with enhanced safety measures after discussions with local authorities and surfers.

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Stats - According to www.finder.com.au research shows there have been 43 unprovoked fatal shark attacks in Australia since 1990.

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Location location - The majority of attacks are recorded in NSW but the highest number of fatalities occur in WA.

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Increase - The number of recorded encounters between sharks and humans in Australia increased modestly between 1997 and 2017.

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Numbers - Despite shark numbers plateauing, or in some cases declining, the number of interactions between shark and humans is increasing.  

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Population - The Australian population has increased by 33%, but that alone doesn’t explain the increase in recorded shark encounters.

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Great white - According to data from the Australian Shark Attack File, great white sharks are responsible for 28 of the 36 fatal shark encounters in Australian waters between 1997 and 2017.

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2017 - In 2017 alone there were 15 unprovoked shark attacks recorded in Australia. 

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Unprovoked - An ‘unprovoked’ encounter between a human and a shark is defined as an incident where a shark is in its natural habitat and has made a determined attempt to bite a human without any human provocation. 

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Provoked - There were three provoked attacks by sharks recorded in Australia in 2017.

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Jargon - A ‘provoked’ incident is defined as when a person deliberately approaches a shark. 

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