Surfer in critical condition after shark attack in Australia

Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island, Mexico

A surfer is fighting for his life after his leg was reportedly bitten off in a shark attack off Fishery Bay in the Port Lincoln national park, Australia.

The 26-year-old man was surfing 350 metres offshore on Saturday when the six-metre shark attacked.

He was airlifted to Royal Adelaide hospital, the Guardian reports.

A witness described seeing the six-metre shark with a massive pectoral fin and said around a dozen surfers were in the water when it attacked.

Speaking to the Advertiser newspaper, the onlooker said: "The shark came in and bit his leg off...

"I was just watching the shark go out to the ocean with his board still attached. Obviously the shark still had his leg and he was still swimming around with it."

He added: "It was definitely a great white."

Fishery Bay is a popular surfing spot, also attracting families and fishermen.

Earlier this month, a teenage boy died after being attacked by a shark off the island of La Reunion in the Indian Ocean.

The 13-year-old surfer was in an off-limits section of water off the west coast of the French island when the shark tore off the right side of his body, AFP reports.

Elio Canestri is said to have been a talented surfer.

According to the BBC, rescuers arrived at the scene quickly but were unable to save the boy.

Local authorities deployed specialist boats to locate the shark.