SYDNEY, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- A man survived a shark bite by punching it in the nose after it latched onto his arm near Newcastle city on Saturday, the latest shark attack at Australia's popular beaches and coasts, according to local media.

The 50-year-old man was bodysurfing in the morning at Samurai Beach in New South Wales state when he bumped into the animal, thought to be a bull shark, the ABC news channel reported.

"I went to move out about a bit deeper to get a better wave ... just put my head down and headbutted it, and then it just grabbed me," the channel quoted Paul Kenny as saying.

"I started punching it until it let go and then started getting back out of the surf as quick as I could holding my arm because there was blood everywhere."

The victim made it to shore with a "significant amount of puncture wounds" to his right bicep and was "stable and conscious when emergency services arrived," according to state ambulance services.

He was taken to hospital and is in stable condition, reported the channel.

The latest shark attack comes after a man suffered a severe shark bite while fishing off Queensland state's northeastern coast earlier in the month, becoming the third shark victim in the area in as many weeks.

Late last month, a woman and a girl were left in critical condition after shark attacks within 24 hours of each other in the same harbor area. Authorities subsequently rolled out a drum line baiting operation to net the predators in the area.