A man was attacked by a shark on Cape Cod's Ballston beach while he was body surfing on Monday afternoon. This 40-year-old man was believed to be about one third of a mile offshore when the whale bit him on both his legs, according to local reports. He was rushed to the Cape Cod Hospital immediately and was then transferred to the Massachusetts general hospital in Boston later during the day.

According to eye witness reports on foxnews.com, the shark sightings have been common in this area. They said that the 40-year-old victim was swimming with his son when they spotted the whale fin.

One of the eyewitnesses, Walter Palmer of Philadelphia told the Cape Cod Times, "We were watching. A very large fin came up between the two of them. A lot of people saw it. They started swimming back. The son was calling for help."

People were unsure about what species of shark was it and Palmer added saying "I am not an expert on shark fish. But it was not a seal."

Truro fire Chies Brian Davis saw the cuts on the victims legs and told the Cape Cod Times that the wounds were deep. He said that this could have been because the victim might have tried to free himself or escape which he was being attacked. He said " I've never seen bites like that. I guess he tried to kick the animal off."

Shark expert Greg Skomal from the state's Division of Marine Fisheries said he could try to determine the species only after meeting the victim and examining his wounds. According to a report in foxnews.com, he said, "We know what a white shark bite looks like. In a year where there's high seal abundance, we're seeing great white sharks. It's on the list of the potential candidates."

According to a report in NBCnews.com, fatal shark attacks across the globe were on a 20-year-high in 2011. While there haven't been as many attacks in 2012, as last year, the increase in shark sightings at beaches like Cape Cod may be a matter of concern.