(NewsNation) — Wildlife biologist and conservationist Jeff Corwin believes Australia is the utopian breeding ground for sharks after three attacks within 24 hours in the island nation.

“We see this happening around the world, especially in moderately temperate waters,” Corwin told NewsNation.

“We see that off the coast of New England, we see that off the South African coastline, and Australia is famous for this because of the very vibrant habitat there. It is a perfect home for sharks,” he added.

A man and a boy were critically injured and another boy had his surfboard bitten during three separate shark attacks in Sydney in just over 24 hours, Australian police said Monday.

A surfer in his 20s was bitten on a leg by a shark off North Steyne Beach on the Pacific Ocean coast in the northern suburb of Manly at 6:20 p.m. local time Monday, a police statement said. Bystanders pulled him from the water before an ambulance took him to a hospital in a critical condition, police said.

On Sunday, a 12-year-old boy suffered serious injuries to both legs after jumping from a 20-foot-high ledge known as Jump Rock, near Shark Beach inside Sydney Harbor in the eastern suburb of Vaucluse. Police have credited the boy’s three friends with saving his life by jumping from the cliff during the attack and dragging him back to shore.

Local media have reported that the boy lost both legs in the attack. Around noon on Monday, an 11-year-old boy was on a surfboard that was attacked by a shark at Dee Why Beach, an ocean beach north of Manly. The shark bit off a chunk of the board, but the boy escaped uninjured.

All three beaches near where the attacks occurred have some form of shark protection netting. It was not immediately clear where the attacks occurred in relation to that netting. Authorities suspect bull sharks are responsible for at least the first two attacks.

“Large bull sharks, large tigers or white sharks are fully capable of fully consuming a human being,” Corwin said.

“They often take on prey like small sized whales and large pit of bed creatures like sea lions and seals, but oftentimes and turbulent water and a moment of chaos, they do a test bite, or they move in thinking they’re going in for one thing and they end up with another, which is why you have to be so careful when you’re in the water where sharks like this thrive,” he added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.