A man has died after being bitten by a suspected "large shark" on a Sydney beach.

Australia's New South Wales police confirmed the man's death at Long Reef Beach after he was pulled out of the water, but "died at the scene".

The statement read: "Two sections of a surfboard have been recovered and taken for expert examination".

Several areas of the popular beach, known as the Northern Beaches, have been closed following the incident.

The state police said the emergency services received reports shortly after 10am local time on Saturday that "a man had suffered critical injuries".

Police described the victim as an "experienced surfer" who had been in the water with his friends.

The man had been surfing for half an hour when he was attacked some 100 metres off the shore, losing "a number of limbs".

Rod McGibbon, a duty officer from Surf Life Saving, said the victim had been brought to the beach by other surfers.

Emergency services operate in the water following the attack

Mr McGibbon said he expected the beaches to remain closed over the weekend.

The victim, who has not been named, leaves behind him a wife and young daughter, police superintendent John Duncan of Sydney's Northern Beaches unit said.

He said the man "suffered catastrophic injuries" in a press conference.

Police added they are now working to "determine the species of shark involved".

The Northern Beaches Council said in a statement that lifeguards on jetskis were monitoring the beaches for sharks.

The last deadly shark attack in the Sydney area occurred three years ago, when a great white shark killed British diving instructor Simon Nellist.

Prior to that, there had not been a fatal attack since 1963.

There have been three other fatal shark attacks in Australia in 2025, data from the state-run operator of Sydney's Taronga Zoo shows.

A helicopter flies overhead at the scene of the attack

In March, a surfer was killed by a shark in shallow water on a remote beach in Western Australia.

Australia typically records about 20 shark attacks each year, with most in New South Wales and Western Australia.

Historically, dying from a shark bite is uncommon.

Australia's shark attack mortality rate is 0.9 according to a century of records, less than one person per year.