Australian surfer injured as dolphin slams into him

SYDNEY – A surfer in Australia was airlifted to hospital Monday after a dolphin slammed into him as he was riding a wave at a remote beach.

The 27-year-old man was on his body board, or boogie board, at Bawley Point, 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Sydney, when the collision occurred.

“He has come over a wave and as he did so, a dolphin has come through and hit him in the pelvic area,” New South Wales Ambulance duty operations manager Wayne Dunlop said.

“The force has been enough to tear the patient’s wetsuit.”

Paramedics treated the man, who had made his way out of the water, at the scene before he was airlifted to a hospital in Sydney.

Dunlop said the full extent of his injuries was unknown and he would require further assessment.

While shark attacks sometimes occur around Australia, incidents involving other marine animals are not common.

In July last year,  a surfer was knocked unconscious when he got too close to a whale at Bondi Beach in Sydney.