Police confirm NSW surfer Tadashi Nakahara was killed by great white shark

Police have confirmed a great white shark was responsible for the death of a Japanese surfer near Ballina on the NSW north coast this week.

Tadashi Nakahara, who had been living and working in the area for the past year, suffered severe injuries to his leg and was helped from the water by a group of fellow surfers at Shelly Beach on Monday morning.

Despite first aid efforts the 41-year-old surfer died at the scene from massive blood loss.

Police said an expert from the Department of Primary Industry had confirmed the shark responsible was a great white, between three and four metres long.

The shark is still at large, despite several sweeps of the beach using police helicopters and boats

Beaches between Ballina and Lennox Head remain closed today, but mainly due to rough surf conditions.

A Department of Primary Industry statement said the shark responsible is “unlikely to have remained in the immediate area” following the fatal attack.

The incident followed an earlier shark attack on Sunday at Seven Mile Beach, about 20km north.

Surfer Jabez Reitman was knocked off his board and suffered minor bite wounds during the attack.

Nakahara, who had worked for both a surfboard company and a local hotel, was well known to locals as a keen surer.

Today friends laid a wreath at Shelley Beach and paused to remember the Japanese national.

Ben Dargie said Nakahara was a skilled surfer and a hard worker.

“He was the sort of guy who had great pride in what he did,” he said.

Others described him as a friendly, kind-hearted person who was always willing to stop for a chat.

A post mortem examination is being conducted today.