A 16-YEAR-old boy has died after being bitten by a shark on the New South Wales north coast.

A NSW Ambulance spokesman said the teenager was pulled from the water by lifesavers at North Wall beach near Ballina about 8.30am (AEST).

?Lifesavers assisted him, but when paramedics arrived they found the boy deceased,? he said.

?His injuries appeared to have been leg injuries.?

Reports that a second man was attacked but survived have not been confirmed.

Ballina Lighthouse and Lismore Surf Life saving club spokesman Garry Meredith said the teenager was body-boarding with a friend when the attack occurred.

?His mate saw he was in trouble, waving his arms around,? Mr Meredith said.

?His mate brought him out of the water.?

Mr Meredith said the youth was dead by the time he reached the beach.

?His mate is still with the ambos.?

The friend was not hurt in the attack.

Another Surf Life Saving NSW spokesman, Craig Roberts, said the boy suffered two large bites, one to the leg and one to the body.

The shark had not been spotted since but crews were out looking for it.

"The patient came in with another gentleman and lifeguards attended the scene," Mr Roberts said on ABC radio.

"As you can imagine it was quite a distressful situation. He was unconscious and the lifeguards and ambulance officers had some severe haemorrhage to deal with."

Mr Roberts said lifeguards performed well in the traumatic situation.

"Certainly it's one of those things that you're trained for but hopefully it never happens as well," he said.

"The lifeguards did an excellent job and worked with the ambulance and the police service, but obviously it is a traumatic experience."

The boy was surfing 50m from shore at the time of the attack, he said.

Beaches in the area have reportedly been closed temporarily.

Mr Roberts said the beach was normally patrolled, but crews had not started patrolling for the day.

He said it was not common for sharks to be off the beach at this time of year.

"Earlier on in the year there was a very heightened risk in the Byron (Bay) area in which we put some additional measures with jet skis and helicopters in the area," he said.

The area has been the scene of many shark attacks and sightings in the past.

In January, three beaches in the Lennox Head area were temporarily cleared after sharks were spotted.

Late in October, one Lennox Head beach was closed as sharks lurked offshore.

Also in October, a woman on a sea kayak was attacked by a shark in the surf at nearby Byron Bay.

A boogie boarder suffered serious leg injuries when he was bitten by a shark off Shelly Beach at Ballina in February last year.

In 2001 a surfer was knocked off his board by a bronze whaler shark at Lennox Head but he survived.