Picture used for illustrative purposes only.

A surfer died on Sunday after being bitten by a shark off a surfing beach on Australia's east coast, as many locals went to beaches to celebrate Father's Day, paramedics said.

Fellow surfers, bystanders and paramedics gave the man CPR but he had a critical arm injury and could not be revived, New South Wales ambulance official Chris Wilson said.

The incident took place off the Emerald Beach, some 550 km (342 miles) north of Sydney.

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New South Wales Ambulance said on its Twitter account that "Despite the best efforts of bystanders, paramedics and other emergency services the patient sadly died at the scene."

The man, believed to be in his 20s, was mauled by the shark at Emerald Beach near Coffs Harbour, about six hours north of Sydney, according to paramedics.

Australia ranked behind only the United States in the number of unprovoked shark encounters with humans in 2019, according to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File.