A husband and father has died after being bitten by a shark while surfing at Dee Why, on Sydney’s northern beaches.

The 57-year-old man, an experienced surfer, was surfing with friends about 100 metres from the sand at Long Reef Beach about 10am on Saturday when a large shark bit him and his surfboard, police said. His board was cut in two and he lost both legs.

Police said the man died in the water, and his body was brought to shore by other surfers.

He leaves behind a wife and young daughter, said Inspector Stuart Thomson, noting the attack occurred just the day before Father’s Day.

“It’s a terrible, terrible thing. It’s one of those freak accidents that happens very, very rarely,” he said.

The victim was well-known locally, and was heavily involved in the area’s surfing fraternity.

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