Aussie man fights off shark using surfboard

SYDNEY -- A man was treated in hospital on Wednesday after fighting off a shark with his surfboard on a Northern New South Wales (NSW) State beach in Australia.

It's believed that the 43-year-old was mauled by the predator around 07:00 (AEDT) at Shelly Beach in the township of Ballina.

Local Mayor David Wright told a radio station that the surfer said the shark was around 1.5 meters long.

"It grabbed him on the leg and pulled him off the board. He used the board to belt the shark away," he told 2GB.

"He came onshore, wrapped his leg up and went to Ballina Hospital. He's now been transferred to Lismore Hospital. He's got an eight inch (20 cm) cut on his calf."

Authorities have now closed all beaches in the Ballina area and according to the Australian Associated Press, NSW Surf Life Saving have now began drone surveillance of the area.

The attack follows a horror week on Australia's east coast, which has already seen the death of a 33-year-old man further north at the Whitsunday Islands.

Four years prior, a Japanese surfer was killed after he was attacked by a shark at Shelly Beach.