A West Australian kitesurfer has died in a shark attack off New Caledonia’s main island, in the second fatal attack in the South Pacific territory in six months.

Local officials say the 50-year-old man had fallen into the water inside the reef off the northern port of Koumac and was bitten by a large shark on the thigh.

The Marine Rescue Coordination Centre said a nearby catamaran raised the alarm and delivered first aid, but he was declared dead just over an hour later.

“He suffered a deep bite to the thigh from a big shark,” said Nicolas Renaud, head of the archipelago’s marine rescue coordination centre.

“We don’t know for the moment what species it was.”

Australian consular officials are assisting the man’s family.

It is the second fatal shark attack off New Caledonia, a French territory east of Australia, in the past six-months, and the third time a kitesurfer has been bitten.

A strong Pacific wind along the coastline attracts wind and kite surfers to New Caledonia. Photo: Rob Griffith/AP

In April a woman was killed on a beach on Poe in the west of the island group.

There were 98 shark attacks globally last year — the highest number ever recorded, according to researchers at the University of Florida, which has been collecting data since 1958.

Six of the attacks were fatal.

Theories on the increase include rising water temperatures caused by climate change making sharks change their habits, the El Nino weather pattern, which was particularly powerful last year, and the increasing popularity of water sports.

– with AFP