A SURFER was rushed to hospital after being savaged by a shark at a beach in Australia today.
Shocking pictures from the scene show a huge chunk bitten from the victim's surfboard at Crescent Head, 250 miles north of Sydney.
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Medics at the scene of a shark attack today in Crescent Head, New South Wales Credit: Social Media 3
The shark bit a chunk out of the 20-year-old victim's surfboard Credit: Social Media
Life guards said the 20-year-old surfer was mauled at around 4.30pm local time on Monday.
He was treated at the scene for a severe arm injury before being flown to hospital by air ambulance, reports News.com.au.
Crescent Head and Killick beaches - popular spots for water sports - were closed after the attack.
It comes six weeks after a "hero" dad was killed by a 15ft suspected great white shark while surfing at nearby Tuncurry beach.
Mark Sanguinetti, 59, from Sydney, was mauled on the thigh after trying to warn his three pals of the danger.
A witness said: "The shark came out of the water, just smashed him, five seconds later he came round and hit him again."
Beach-goers hauled Mark out of the water but he could not be saved.
His devastated daughter said: "We all knew him as a legend with a heart as vast and deep as the ocean, which was the first of his many loves."
Several beaches were closed in the wake of that attack on May 18.
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There have been numerous shark attacks over recent months
Last month a boy of ten was badly injured by a 7ft bronze whaler shark in remote Western Australia, near Coral Bay.
His dad fought off the predator with a spear gun, according to reports.
That was the second such attack in the area after fisherman Jack Howson, 27, punched a shark that mauled his calf in March.
In January, dad Duncan Craw, 32, was mauled to death while snorkelling on a family camping holiday in Port Macdonnell, South Australia.
Last year Australia recorded its highest number of fatal shark attacks for almost 100 years.
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Eight men aged between 17 and 60 were killed off the country's coast.
Scientists speculated shifting hunting grounds, changing weather, staycations and overfishing may have played a role.
On average just a handful of people are killed by sharks every year worldwide, mostly in Australia, the US and South Africa.
Moment shark leaps from the ocean and bites paraglider's foot