SYDNEY, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A surfer was airlifted to hospital in a serious condition after being bitten by a shark at a popular Australian coastal spot on Sunday.
Emergency services were deployed to Byron Bay in northeastern New South Wales state after reports of a shark attacking a 41-year-old man surfing off Belongil Beach early morning, according to a police statement.
The victim suffered leg injuries but managed to return to shore on his surfboard, alerting other surfers before state ambulance paramedics treated him at the scene, police said.
The affected beach areas were closed for at least 24 hours and authorities are investigating the incident.
The latest attack came a month after a girl and a senior woman were bitten by a shark in the Whitsundays tourist area up the coast in Queensland state, in a slew of incidents involving the marine predators which also claimed at least one life late last year and left several others severely injured.
State authorities nationwide have since been ramping up measures to prevent the attacks, including placing advanced ocean drum lines to catch, tag, release and relocate the sharks.
