A 65-year-old man was mauled by a shark off Australia's most populous state on Friday, but managed to get back on his surf ski and get help on shore, police said.

The man was paddling a surf ski near the New South Wales state town of Forster, 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of Sydney, when he was attacked, police said. They said he fell into the water but got back on the surf ski and managed to get closer to shore, where bystanders were able to help him from the water.

He was flown by helicopter for emergency surgery to a leg injury. The state ambulance service described that injury as serious.

Two weeks ago, a 38-year-old surfer suffered life-threatening injuries when he was attacked by a shark at Port Macquarie, 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Forster.

Three weeks earlier, a 52-year-old surfer was seriously injured as he repeatedly punched a shark that mauled him off Evans Head, 230 kilometers (140 miles) north of Port Macquarie, the 11th attack — including one fatality — in five months along a 20-kilometer (12-mile) stretch of northern New South Wales coast.

On Feb. 9, a 41-year-old Japanese tourist was killed around the tourist town of Ballina, also is northern New South Wales. The only fatal attack in Australia since then was in July, when a 46-year-old diver was killed off the island state of Tasmania, 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) south of Ballina.

Sharks are common off Australia's beaches, but fatal attacks are rare. The country has averaged fewer than two deadly attacks per year in recent decades.