SYDNEY, Australia -- Officials say a swimmer was attacked by one of three sharks marauding at a beach in western Australia, and survived with an injured leg.

Thirty-seven-year-old Jason Cull was swimming Saturday at Middleton Beach when the shark, believed to be a white pointer, seized his left leg, said Tom Marron, a spokesman for local surf lifesavers.

Marron said volunteer lifesaver Joanne Lucas leaped into the water to help pull Cull to shore.

Cull was in a stable condition after having surgery at a hospital in Albany, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) south of Perth, the capital of Western Australia state, a hospital spokesman said, on customary condition of anonymity.

Middleton beach was closed.