New Delhi, May 25 -- A spearfisher was mauled on the Great Barrier Reef on Sunday in Australia's second fatal shark attack in just over a week, police said.

The 39-year-old man was with three friends diving from a boat at Kennedy Shoal off the Queensland state coast south of Cairns when he was attacked, Police Inspector Elaine Burns said.

"The man had been spearfishing when he was attacked and died from a critical head injury," Burns told reporters.

The victim, a Cairns resident, was brought by boat around noon to the tourist town of Hull Heads where paramedics were waiting. He had "sustained injuries not compatible with life," an ambulance service statement said.

Kennedy Shoal is a shallow coral reef popular with recreational fishers...