A snorkeller is believed to be the third shark attack victim off the east coast of Australia in two days.
A 25-year-old man was snorkelling near a boat ramp at Windang, on the mouth of Lake Illawarra, about 10.45am when he turned around to see a flurry of white water.
He "punched at a brown shape", believed to have been a bull shark, after it bit him on the calf.
Sergeant John Klepczarek said the man flagged down a nearby boat, which came to his aid and helped him get to shore.
"Once in a blue moon,'' Sgt Klepczarek described the chance of a shark attack in the area.
An ambulance spokeswoman said the man punched at whatever bit him, causing it to let go.
He was not sure what attacked him but it left 40 to 50 puncture wounds in his calf.
He was transported to Shellharbour Hospital in a stable condition.
The water and air shark patrol were alerted and commenced a search the area, Sgt Klepczarek said.
Meanwhile the man who saved a teenage girl from the jaws of a great white shark yesterday said the "monster" was "easily the length of a car".
Syb Mundy, 33, was surfing on Sunday afternoon with his 13-year-old cousin Hannah Mighall at Binalong Bay, near St Helens, in Tasmania's north-east, when a 5m white pointer latched onto her leg.
That attacked occurred on the same day another surfer survived a similarly vicious shark attack at Fingal Head on the NSW North Coast.
The shark dragged the girl under the water twice before her cousin reached the scene on his surfboard.
Gallery: Scariest great whites ever photographed
"It took her under the water a couple of times and it was thrashing her around, but she kept her head together,'' Mr Mundy told Macquarie Radio.
Leaked report: Great whites swarm off Sydney
"Once it let her go she was bleeding pretty bad. There was a lot of blood in the water.''
He paddled to her rescue and hit the shark on the head.
"I can remember seeing the eye come out of the water and the head and I was going to try and poke it in the eye if I could get close enough,'' Mr Mundy said.
The shark let go of her leg but then it grabbed her surfboard, which was tethered to her ankle, before it let go for the last time, he said.
"I think it just didn't like the taste of her, to tell you the truth.''
Mr Mundy said they were up to 70m from the beach and saw an opportunity to get away from the shark.
"Luckily a wave come along and she was on my back and I said, `Hannah please, this wave is going to save your life, don't let go','' he said.
"But the shark actually got on to the wave. We looked to our left and this thing started surfing towards us and we just headed straight to the beach.''
The shark continued to harass them until they made it on to the beach, he said.
A doctor, who happened to be on hand, wrapped Hannah's leg in a towel until emergency crews arrived.
"It sort of circled us. We were paddling in and it was just circling us and coming up underneath us and she was really composed.''
Mr Mundy said hitting the shark on the head ``was like hitting a brick wall - it was that dense''.
"I didn't have a tape to measure it but it was huge. It was easily the length of a car.
"It was just a monster.''
The attack was the second such incident on Sunday.
Emergency services were called to Fingal Head, south of Tweed Heads, on the far north NSW coast, following reports a 31-year-old board rider had been attacked by a shark just before 9.30am .
The man suffered a 40cm tear to his left thigh while surfing about 70 metres offshore.
SURF school owner has defended his failure to warn his class that a large shark was swimming close to teenagers on a popular NSW beach.
This amazing photo shows the moment the shark, believed to be a 3m great white, surfaced at Blueys Beach on the mid-North Coast on Sunday.
Should the students have been told of the shark? Tell us below
Silvio Rodriguez was photographing other surfers near the surf school students about midday when he noticed a large shadow. "At first I thought it was weed, but I kept an eye on it then out of the corner of my eye I saw the massive fin come up," Mr Rodriguez, 31, said.
"It was only maybe 30m away from the nearest learner surfer." Former professional surfer Gary Hughes, who runs Gary Hughes Surface School of Surf and Surf Consultancy, said he was aware of the shark and had been monitoring it.
"I did not tell the students because they just would have worried," Mr Hughes, 50, said.
"It was just having a cruise, it wasn't showing attack behaviour."
Fingal Bay has always been sharkey, Me and a couple of mates had a close encounter there with a hammerhead about 20 years ago, i also had a shark right on my arse in a wave at Greenmount about 18 years back, a guy got a chunk taken out of his board at Snapper a couple of days later. I was also at Byron about 27 years back when a surfer was taken and lost his life at Tallows.. Anyone wanna come surfing with me???
that's exactly where I was.....
My In-laws own a place on the headland between Blueys and Boomerang,they're still there at the moment (14th).
Now I'm thinkin' that i'm kinda glad there was no waves...........
wow.....i guess this surf school guy is a expert in shark behavior.
what a complete assh*le
what you might call unbridled capitalism
"tontos de goma....."
well done
"This sucks more than anything that has ever sucked before." Butt-head
RM,
not really. in fact just board shorts and that burned to a tan look are still highly regarded here on Hawaii. they probably think i'm a poofter for wearing a rash guard.
i just translated it and it was so appropriate. three little words that condensed the meaning into a perfect package
personally i don't like the feeling of a wetsuit between my board and my knees.
"This sucks more than anything that has ever sucked before." Butt-head
