Surfer hospitalised after shark attack in Western Australia

A surfer in his fifties was rushed to hospital on Monday after being bitten by a shark in Western Australia, the state government and local ambulance service said.

Authorities said they received a report of a "shark incident" around 9:45 am (0145 GMT) at Glenfield Beach, just over 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Perth.

The man is in a "serious but stable condition", national broadcaster ABC said, citing local health authorities.

Locals were advised to take additional caution around the beach.

Australian scientists believe increasingly crowded waters and rising ocean temperatures are shifting sharks' migratory patterns, which may be contributing to a rise in attacks.

A 12-year-old boy died after he was bitten by a shark while swimming in Sydney Harbour in January.

Three divers were also fatally mauled in separate incidents between May and June -- two in Western Australia and the third in Queensland.

Also in June, a woman was mauled by a shark at one of Australia's most popular beaches in Sydney.

The woman -- a school teacher -- last month recalled swinging a "left hook" at the predator before it dragged her underwater.

She was placed in an induced coma and had part of her left arm amputated after the June 13 attack.

There have been around 1,300 shark incidents around Australia since 1791, of which more than 260 resulted in death, according to a database of their encounters with humans.