A school chaplain died in a shark attack on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia

Local police said a 40-year-old man has died after being attacked by a shark on the edge of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

Luke Walford, a young pastor, was spear fishing when he was bitten on Saturday afternoon.

Authorities said he suffered “life-threatening injuries” and, despite the efforts of paramedics, died at the scene about an hour later.

He and his family were in the water on Humpy Island in Keppel Bay Islands National Park on the Great Barrier Reef when the attack occurred. The area is a popular place for diving and snorkeling.

Walford was a school chaplain and pastor at the Cathedral of Praise church in Rockhampton, Queensland.

Donna Kirkland, his local MP, said she was shocked and that Walford was a friend of her and “countless others”.

“My prayers and sincere condolences go to his beautiful family, as well as to the many people who, like me, will be devastated by this news,” she added.

A family friend told ABC News he saw a rescue helicopter fly over his house, unaware it was for his friend.

“I always pay a little tribute to whoever it is, but to hear that it was Luke was a very sad day,” Doug Webber said.

Queensland Police said a report would be prepared for the coroner.

The last fatal shark attack in Australia occurred in December 2023, when a teenage boy was killed in the south.

According to a local database, there have been four other shark incidents in Australia this year alone.

Overall, Australia sees more shark attacks than any other country except the United States.