A surfer at a popular Sydney beach was mauled to death by a suspected "large shark" on Saturday, Australian police said, in a rare fatal attack.

The 57-year-old man was surfing with friends in the Pacific waters off northern Sydney's adjoining Long Reef and Dee Why beaches when the attack happened, authorities said .

The man – an experienced surfer with a wife and a young daughter – lost "a number of limbs", New South Wales police superintendent John Ducan told reporters.

"I do understand that both him and his board disappeared underwater," he said. "The body was found floating in the surf."

Surfers exit the water after authorities closed Long Reef Beach in Sydney following a shark attack on September 6, 2025. AFP via Getty Images

A couple of surfers saw him in the water and got

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