An 11-year-old boy has been bitten by a shark in waters off Queensland’s central coast.

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The child was attacked near Heron Island and is now in a stable condition with a “significant bite” to his left calf.

He was treated by a registered nurse on the island before being transported to Gladstone Airport, where paramedics were waiting for him.

Paramedic Brad Lawson said the boy was bitten by a blacktip reef shark along the beach edge.

Surprisingly, he said the child was in a jovial mood despite his run-in with the shark.

“The child’s in quite good spirits, quite happy,” he said, adding the patient was now in minimal pain.

A team of surgeons are currently reviewing him.

The attack comes after a spear-fisher was also bitten while hunting mackerel off Miall Island on the weekend.