Surfer bitten by shark near Sydney

SYDNEY, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- An Australian tattoo artist made it back to shore alive Wednesday after a shark took a bite out of his thigh and his surfboard off a Sydney-area beach.

Glen "Lennie" Folkard, 44, who owns a tattoo parlor in Charlestown, was reported to be in serious but stable condition, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Witnesses said he was gray from blood loss by the time he got back to the beach.

Other surfers who came to Folkard's aid said the shark was about 6 feet long and circled his surfboard as he headed in. The attack occurred just after 4 p.m. on Redhead Beach.

Lifeguards ordered swimmers out of the water after the attack, but surfers continued to catch waves. A surfer who would give only his first name, Peter, told the Herald the beach was "bizarrely calm."

"It was kind of like Jaws, you know, the scene at the start ... where everybody's pulled out of the water and it's a hot day and the water's inviting, and no one's in it," he said.

The attack was the second in two weeks in the Sydney area, Sky News reported. Witnesses said Folkard's attacker appeared to be a bull shark.