Teenage surfer becomes Australia's 20th shark attack victim this year

An Australian beach remained closed on Thursday as the nation came to grips with yet another shark attack, the 20th such attack this year.

Eli Zawadzki is recovering in a Perth hospital after being bitten by the shark while surfing on the southern West Australian (WA) coast.

The attack resulted in the 18-year-old suffering a 10-cm wound to his right foot. A tooth from the shark remained embedded in his foot.

The beach remained closed on Thursday while authorities determine the species of the shark.

Mitchell Zawadzki, Eli's stepfather told local media that Eli was "shaken" but going to be OK.

The attack happened late on Wednesday afternoon at Dawesville, 86 km south of Perth, the same place where a 13-year-old boy was attacked by a shark in November last year.

With summer weather arriving early, the WA Department of Fisheries said that the receivers which are used to monitor shark movement at Perth beaches, had been set off more than 300 times in the past week.

The department's research scientist Brett Molony said though sharks were in Perth waters year-round, the elevated levels of detections and sightings was unusual.

Australia has had two fatal shark attacks so far this year with 18 others causing injury. One fatality occurred in New South Wales and the other in Tasmania. This compares to five fatalities and 18 injuries in 2014.

This latest incident comes after the WA state government made a controversial decision last year to implement a shark cull. There had been seven fatal shark attacks in the state between 2010 and 2013.

The policy drew widespread criticism from other political parties, and environmental groups around the world, leading to the initiative being scrapped after less than a year. Endi