Shark attacks surfer off west coast of Australia

SYDNEY – A surfer is recovering in a Western Australia state hospital after being bitten by a shark off a remote beach.

Department of Fisheries spokesman Michael Burgess says the man was attacked Tuesday afternoon off Red Bluff, a beach about 90 miles north of Carnarvon. Burgess says the man suffered a bite wound to his abdomen and received a severe bite to his arm while fighting off the shark.

Fellow surfers dragged the man to shore and drove him to meet an ambulance more than an hour away, which then transported him to Carnarvon Hospital. He was flown to a hospital in the state capital of Perth, where he was recovering Wednesday.

Burgess says officials don't know what type of shark was involved.