Shark attack at Diamond Head near Port Macquarie in NSW - The Australian

A 29-year-old man was attacked by a bull shark at Kylie's Beach, Diamond Head, around 10:45 this morning.

The man lost an index finger and a knuckle on his right hand and had a large bite to the right thigh.

The man was treated at the scene by paramedics before being flown by the Westpac rescue chopper to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle.

Kylie's Beach is an unpatrolled beach and is popular with surfers due to its exposed location and protection from north-easterly winds.

Adam Eady, from the Crowdy Head Surf Life Saving Club, south of the attack site, said beaches from Crowdy Head to Camden Haven to the north had closed as a precautionary measure.

The stretch of coastline where the young surfer was attacked was unpatrolled and shark sightings in the area were rare, he said.

"At this time of year, it really is unusual for sharks to be around this close in," he said.

A Surf Life Saving NSW spokeswoman said one of the surfer's mates had raised the alarm.

"I believe he was surfing with others, so one of his mates paddled in," she said.

Beaches in the region could remain closed for 24 hours, she said.

A co-owner of the Diamond Beach Holiday Park, Donna King, said she had lived in the area for 10 years and never heard of a similar incident.

"There's been sightings of sharks, but no attacks that we're aware of," she said.

There have been 50 unprovoked fatalities from shark encounters in Australian waters in the past 50 years.

All up around 30 percent of attacks prove fatal. The most recent fatal attack in NSW occurred in 2008 at Ballina’s Lighthouse beach when Peter Edmond’s, 16, was taken while body boarding.

The most recent fatal attack in Australia took place in July this year when Ben Linden was taken by a 4 metre shark near Wedge Island, north of Perth.

John West of the Taronga Conservation Society Australia, in Sydney, speaking to Australian Geographic says that "no one beach is any more likely to be dangerous than any other."

"The best prevention is common-sense related to where you swim and what activities you undertake whilst in the water," says John, "and be aware of what may invite or provoke an attack."