Surfer out of hospital after shark attack shock

AUSTRALIA: A surfer has been discharged from hospital after surviving a shark attack in waters near Byron Bay on the notorious NSW north coast.

The 36-year-old man escaped with three puncture wounds to his upper thigh when his surfboard bore the brunt of an attack yesterday morning.

The man was waiting to catch a wave off a beach between Suffolk Park and Broken Head around 7.30am when the shark attacked from below.

He made his way to to the emergency department of Byron Central Hospital with the help of a friend, and witnesses said he was able to walk into the emergency ward and has since been discharged.

All beaches across Byron Bay have now been closed for at least 24 hours, however some surfers remain in the water.

Witnesss Geoffrey Knapp said he and a friend were surfing near a group of dolphins when he saw the man leave the water in a hurry.

The man had seen the shark’s tail as it bit him, he said.

‘‘He got the impression the shark was trying to knock him off his surfboard and try and roll him over,’’ he said.

He gave the man first aid on the beach.

‘‘Once we had a good look at it we could see it was incredibly close, but only a superficial wound,’’ Knapp said.

Another surfer said the main remained extremely calm throughout the incident.

‘‘He was surprisingly Aaron Hoffman said.

‘‘He wasn’t showing any real signs of pain - I think he might have been in shock.’’

It’s not yet known what species of shark was involved, but a number of great whites have been detected along the coast in the past week chasing schools of fish and dolphins.

On Sunday, the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries detected a tagged great white off Main Beach at Evans Head.

The latest attack is the 13th in the area since January 2015, including the fatal mauling of Japanese surfer Tadashi Nakahara.

- AAP calm,’’