Emergency services were called to a boat ramp at Hulls Head, about 160km south of Cairns in far north Queensland, shortly before noon on Sunday.
The 39-year-old man is believed to have been attacked by a shark at Kennedy Shoal, a stretch of water offshore from Tully Heads along the Great Barrier Reef.
The submerged reef is known for recreational fishing and diving and is located roughly midway between Mission Beach and Cardwell.
The man was retrieved from the water and taken to the boat ramp but died of his injuries, police said.
A boating group took him to the ramp, where paramedics had gathered to provide assistance, a Queensland Ambulance Service spokesperson said.
In October, a 14-year-old boy was critically injured in a shark attack near Thursday Island, in far north Queensland.
He was bitten on the stomach while fishing with friends near Cook Esplanade, off the nation's northernmost tip.
In February 2025, 17-year-old Charlize Zmuda died after being bitten by a shark while swimming off Woorim Beach at Bribie Island, in Queensland's south.
The teen suffered injuries to her upper body and died soon after being pulled from the water.
Sunday's death comes just over a week since father-of-two Steven "Mattas" Mattaboni died in a shark attack in Western Australia.
Mr Mattaboni was diving at Horseshoe Reef near Rottnest Island on May 16 when attacked.
He was unable to be revived by paramedics after a group of mates pulled him from the water and rushed him to a nearby jetty.
It follows a spate of fatal shark attacks along NSW's coast.
Schoolboy Nico Antic, 13, died a week after being bitten on his legs near a popular swimming spot at Vaucluse, in Sydney's east, in January.
Swiss tourist Livia Mulheim, 25, was killed by a shark in November while swimming at a Kylies Beach on NSW's mid-north coast.
Surfer Mercury Psillakis, 57, was fatally bitten by a shark at Sydney's Long Reef beach in September.
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