Beaches on the NSW south coast where a young surfer was mauled by a shark have reopened as the man recovers in hospital.
Brett Connellan, 22, lost a large chunk of his thigh and remains in a serious but stable condition in St George Hospital, conscious and lucky to be alive.
"He's looking a little bit better in so much as he's awake," a NSW Health spokeswoman told AAP on Friday, although she wouldn't comment on whether Mr Connellan had undergone surgery.
The surfer was saved by Joel Trist, who first thought something was wrong when he heard a terrible scream and saw Mr Connellan getting thrashed around in the water about 100 metres from the shore of Kiama's popular Bombo Beach.
After dragging Mr Connellan on to his board, Mr Trist made his way towards land where he and two off-duty nurses used a leg rope as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
Bombo Beach and neighbouring beaches in the Illawarra area have reopened as there have been no reported shark sightings since the attack, a NSW Surf Life Saving spokesman told AAP on Friday.
Experts believe the shark was most likely a great white or bronze whaler.
Further north, a tagged bull shark was detected at Lennox Point and two swimmers cleared from Ballina beach following a shark spotting on Friday morning, SharkSmart tweeted.
