A 38-year-old man has been attacked by a shark Lighthouse Beach, Port Macquarie, NSW this Saturday afternoon local time, suffering “life-threatening” bite injuries to his stomach, back, leg and buttocks.

A local police statement reads, “About 5.10pm (Saturday 22 August 2015), a 38-year-old man was body boarding in the water with a friend about 400m south of the club house, when he was attacked by what is believed is a shark. The man was assisted out of the water and treated at the scene by Ambulance Paramedics to stomach and back injuries. All beaches in the area remain closed until further notice.”

The attack comes as the latest in a string of shark incidents in NSW, with an overwhelming majority of locals cited as being in favour of a shark cull. In early August a surfer was badly injured at Evans Head, a week or so previous to that a bodyboarder suffered serious injuries to his legs at Ballina, while back in February, Japanese surfer Tadashi Nakahara died when he was attacked by a great white at Ballina.