Surfer attacked by shark off NSW mid-north coast

The attack happened on Saturday afternoon at Lighthouse Beach, in Port Macquarie, New South Wales.

Doctors from the Westpac Rescue Helicopter service landed at Port Macquarie at 6.30pm and were assessing the man before he was due to be flown to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle for urgent surgery on Saturday night.

He was taken to Port Macquarie Hospital where he will remain overnight.

All beaches in Port Macquarie will be closed until further notice following the attack.

“The thoughts of the local surf lifesaving community are with his family and friends at this time”, Donna Wishart from SLSNSW said in a statement.

The DPI has sent investigators in to identify the species of the shark from the bite pattern on the man’s wounds.

Authorities are concerned since the attack was the 11th in five months along a 20-kilometre (12-mile) stretch of northern New South Wales state coast around the tourist town of Ballina, where a 41-year-old Japanese tourist was killed on February 9.

The only fatal attack in Australia since then was last month when a 46-year-old diver was killed off the island state of Tasmania.

A man is fighting for his life after apparently being attacked by a shark while bodyboarding off the south east coast of Australia.