Boatie attacked by shark off Australia gets stranded on remote island by storm

An Australian dive boat skipper who was mauled by a shark spent hours stranded on a remote island after being trapped by a incoming storm.

The 55-year-old man was scuba diving dozens of kilometres east of Murray Island in the Torres Strait when he was attacked on Saturday.

Paramedics were alerted about 12.40pm, and fellow divers administered first aid until the dive boat arrived at Murray Island about five hours later.

Queensland Ambulance Service supervisor for far north Queensland Kirk Binnington said the man's injuries suggested he was the victim of a particularly aggressive shark attack.

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Binnington said the man had "multiple upper body bites" including injuries to his arms, chest and abdominal area, and had suffered "significant blood loss".

The man was stuck on Murray Island late on Saturday afternoon, after a rescue helicopter was forced to turn back as a result of bad weather.

"The attack occurred 65 nautical miles east of Murray Island, which is a very remote area, in fact, you can't get more remote than that," Binnington said.

The man, who is also the skipper of the dive boat, remained at Murray Island Primary Health Centre where he was in a stable condition while emergency services waited on the weather to clear so the man could be transported to Thursday Island. 

However, a spokeswoman for the Queensland Ambulance Service said that the seriously injured skipper may not arrive on Thursday Island until after midnight on Saturday.