A surfer has survived a "head-first" attack by a bull shark after trying to get the best waves at a nudist beach in Australia.

Paul Kenny was body surfing at Samurai beach in New South Wales on Saturday morning when he was bitten on the arm by the animal.

The beach had only just reopened after being shut because a whale had washed ashore - sparking fears of increased shark activity.

Image: Paul Kenny was hit 'head-on' by the shark

The 50-year-old said he punched the shark until it let go before desperately running out of the water.

He said: "I think [my arm] got the end of his mouth because his head was bigger than [the size of the bite mark], it's not just a little head like that.


"But I think he just turned and snapped and just got the end of it and just missed an artery, thank God.

"I was coming in. So I went to move out a bit deeper to get a better wave and just put my head down and headbutted it and then it just grabbed me, and I just started punching it until it let go.

"And then started getting back out of the surf as quick as I could holding my arm because there was blood everywhere and hoping it wouldn't come back."

Image: Bull sharks can grow up to 8ft (2.4m) long. File pic

Mr Kenny was being treated in hospital, where he was in a stable condition.

Chris Stewart, who was camping on the beach, said: "We woke up on the beach, went for a walk, saw a bloke walk down to the surf and I said to the missus 'I wouldn't go swimming out there, there's probably sharks out there' and within about two minutes he came back into the beach screaming out for help, so we've run down with a couple of other boys.

"(He was) bleeding on the bicep, bleeding on the leg, wrapped him up with some bandages and called triple 0."

Image: The beach was closed for a few days before the attack

The latest encounter comes a month after two tourists were mauled in separate incidents at the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland state.

Experts say shark attacks are increasing as water sports become more popular and bait fish move closer to shore, although fatalities remain rare.