A man has escaped from the jaws of a shark by punching it in the nose after it latched onto his arm while he was bodysurfing near Newcastle.

Paul Kenny, 50, was enjoying the waves this morning at Samurai Beach, part of One Mile Beach near Anna Bay, when an animal, though to be a bull shark, bit down on his arm.

"I went to move out about a bit deeper to get a better wave," Mr Kenny said. "And [I] just put my head down and headbutted it, and then it just grabbed me.

"I started punching it until it let go and then started getting back out of the surf as quick as I could holding my arm cause there was blood everywhere."

A witness said the first thing that came to Mr Kenny's mind was former pro-surfer Mick Fanning's own near-death experience "so he punched the shark".

Paul Kenny, with his wife Jennie, after he had punched a bull shark that bit him on the forearm while bodysurfing. ( ABC News: Anthony Scully )

Eyewitness Kimbo Tulio said the man was calm after the attack, saying the surfer "initially thought he hit a rock and then realised it was a shark attacking him".

"The first thing that came to his mind was Mick Fanning, so he punched the shark."

NSW Ambulance Newcastle said the man was a seasoned bodysurfer.

"He's got a significant bite to his arm," an inspector with the ambulance said.

"We believe he was surfing at the time and somehow bumped into a shark in the surf.

Samurai Beach was closed after a decomposing whale carcass washed ashore. ( ABC News: Anthony Scully )

"The shark then at that point, turned around latched onto his arm; he managed to hit the shark on the head with his fist and, at which point, the sharked moved on."

The man then made it to shore, with a "significant amount of puncture wounds".

Four crews and a rescue helicopter were dispatched to the beach, but most were called off when they realised the injury was not life threatening.

"He was stable and conscious when emergency services arrived … [and] the wound was treated and wrapped on the beach," NSW Ambulance said.

He was taken by road to the John Hunter Hospital where he is in a stable condition.

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This week, a decomposing whale carcass washed ashore between One Mile Beach and Samurai Beach in Port Stephens and the beaches were closed due to the risk of increased shark activity.

Yesterday, the Office of Environment and Heritage tweeted One Mile Beach and Samurai Beach reopened following the removal of the whale carcass.

Three-time world champion Mick Fanning famously fended off a shark during an event in South Africa in 2015.

The retired professional surfer punched and kicked out at the shark as it broke his leg rope.