Six-foot shark lands on Australian surfer's board

SYDNEY, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A surfer in Australia picked up an unexpected passenger as a six-foot shark jumped onto his surfboard Tuesday morning.

Dean Norburn encountered the shark while taking an early morning surf with two friends at Bondi Beach in New South Wales when the shark hopped onto his board and went on to swim underneath another surfer.

"We had a small shark (6 foot) jump on a local surfers board this morning then swim off under another surfer," Bondi Rescue Lifeguards said in a Facebook post. "The man was not injured. Lifeguards spoke to both men and cleared the water afterwards."

Norburn told The Sydney Morning Herald that he was paddling in due to a rip current and had his torso elevated just enough for the shark to find space on his board.

"I was looking pretty closely at it from the angle I was at. It was probably about three to four inches, maybe a bit more, from my face," he said. "I lost about 100 heartbeats I reckon in that split second, and got a few more grey hairs."

Norburn also said he hopes to continue his usual morning surfing routine despite the incident.