Sydney, Rabi'I 02, 1438, December 01, 2016, SPA -- A 65-year-old man was bitten on the foot and arm while surfing at a popular east coast Australian beach Thursday, police said, according to dpa. The man was in the water at Seven Mile Beach near Forster, 300 kilometres north of Sydney Thursday morning when he was bitten by what is "believed to be a shark," the statement said. He swam to shore and called for an ambulance, before being treated by paramedics and airlifted to hospital in a stable condition, police said. Authorities closed the beach while fisheries officers tried to determine the species of shark. Local newspaper, the Newcastle Herald, said it believed a great white shark, measuring between 2.5 and 3.5 metres, was responsible for the attack. --SPA 03:39 LOCAL TIME 00:39 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w280671