Baited aquatic traps will be sunk in the waters off the Whitsundays to capture the shark or sharks responsible for two bloody maulings in the area in 24 hours.

A 12-year-old New Zealand girl remains in a critical condition after being flown to Mackay Base Hospital with a shark bite to her upper leg on Thursday afternoon.

She was believed to have been holidaying in the Whitsundays with her family when she was attacked. Her rescue came less than 24 hours after 46-year-old Tasmanian Justine Barwick was also horrifically attacked while snorkelling at Cid Harbour.

The Central Queensland Helicopter Rescue Service said said Ms Barwick was alive only because of the quick thinking of friends, with an emergency doctor on a neighbouring boat and the proximity of Queensland’s rescue helicopter.

“I imagine (the victims) weren’t able to be removed from the water straight away, which tells me the shark wasn’t trying to consume them or carry out a prolonged attack,” Dr Chapman told AAP.

RACQ’s CQ Rescue crewman Ben McCauley said Ms Barwick was losing large amounts of blood when she was pulled from the water.

“The shark had taken a huge chunk out of her inside leg and she was bleeding out,” Mr McCauley told the ABC.

“The people on scene who got her aboard that yacht and quickly packed the gaping wound to help stem the haemorrhaging undoubtedly saved her life.”

Ms Barwick was also flown to hospital in Mackay. She has since been transferred to Brisbane, where she is in a stable condition in intensive care.

Bystanders were also the first to attend to the injured girl, who was losing a life-threatening amount of blood.

She was given first aid and then treated by RACQ CQ paramedics at a nearby beach for about 20 minutes before being flown to Mackay. RACQ CQ later released dramatic footage showing paramedics working to save her life.