A man has been hospitalised after he was struck by a whale that had swum close to shore off Bondi Beach

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

A surfer has been knocked unconscious by a 15-metre humpback whale that flicked him off his board at Sydney's Bondi Beach.

The whale was among surfers about 70 metres offshore on Sunday morning when it got too close to one of them and knocked him off his board.

The man lost consciousness for about 10 seconds and other surfers managed to help him back to the beach.

He was treated by paramedics and lifeguards before being taken to St Vincent's Hospital in a stable condition.

Bondi lifeguard Adrian Kovacic says lifesavers had spotted the whale in the water and had been aware of the potential for injury.

"The whale came heaps close to shore and then the surfers were heaps close to it," Kovacic said. "We sent our lifeguard to make a big radius around the whale to get everyone away, and while he was doing that one guy got too close and got hit by the tail.

"We treated it as a spinal, and then he went to hospital."

An Ambulance NSW spokesman said the man was handled with great care.

"He was conscious by the time paramedics saw him, had suffered some injuries, so he was placed on a precautionary board for back, neck and head injuries," the spokesman said.

One witness told the ABC the whale was "the size of a bus".

"I mean, it was 40 feet long – it was huge," Lachlan Harris said. "They were playing and the whale was frolicking with them and having a lot of fun and sort of popping its head out.

"It just flicked its tail and some surfers were in the wrong [place] and the next thing, you know, a surfboard is flying in the air... It was unbelievable."