PICTURED: Real estate agent surfer, 46, mauled to death by a monster great white at a protected beach on the Gold Coast - as aerial search continues for the killer shark

Pictured: Longboard rider Nick Slater was mauled to death by a great white shark on Tuesday

A surfer who was mauled to death by a great white shark at a netted Gold Coast beach has been identified as a 46-year-old real estate agent. 

Longboard rider Nick Slater was just metres away from other surfers at Greenmount Beach when he was bitten on the leg at about 5pm.  

At least 40 surfers were in the water when Mr Slater was hunted down.

Mr Slater's death is the first fatal shark attack in the region since 1958.

Footage from a Swellnet surf camera shows the Mr Slater sitting in the water at the end of the line-up before the shark grabs him and pulls him under.

Water can be seen splashing around before the black silhouette of the shark swims away from shore. 

Some surfers just metres away seem oblivious to what is happening.

A surfer has been killed by a great white shark at a netted Gold Coast beach in the first attack in the region since 2012. Pictured: members of the public and paramedics covering the man who was treated on the back of a beach buggy

Surf cameras have captured the horrific moment a man was killed by a great white shark at a netted Gold Coast beach in the first fatal attack in the region since 1958

Mr Slater is then seen floating face down in the water before fellow board-riders drag him to shore.  

The bite stretched from the surfer's upper thigh to his knee and a tooth from the predator remained lodged in his longboard. 

Coastalwatch footage shows the moment directly after the attack, when a surfer paddled the victim to shore with the help of other beachgoers. 

Lifeguards are seen waiting on the sand before frantically working to treat the severe injury. 

The water was evacuated as lifeguards attempted to save the victim before paramedics arrived.

Emergency crews rushed to the popular tourist spot but the man could not be saved and he was pronounced dead minutes after they arrived.

Surfer Jade Parker told 7News he first spotted a school of fish and up to 30 birds near the victim, which is what attracted the shark to the surfer. 

He had been walking along the footpath near a lookout when he noticed some commotion in the water.

Two women hug at Greenmount Beach on Wednesday morning, following the death of a surfer

Coastalwatch footage captured the moment a surfer brought the injured man to shore with the help of other beachgoers 

Greenmount Beach was closed on Wednesday morning after a surfer was mauled by a shark on Tuesday

'There were four or five people yelling and pointing at the water, and I looked out to where they were pointing and I spotted a board floating and a body was next to it,' he said.

Mr Parker just assumed the surfer had been knocked out because he wasn't moving so he ran down to the beach and swam to the victim, who was in waist deep water.

'There were about three on the scene before me and they were all trying to drag him in with the board he had. I helped drag him into the beach as well.' 

When they arrived on the sand lifeguards were waiting with a stretcher but Mr Parker said he was 'pretty much gone' by the time they arrived.

Mr Parker said the injury stretched from the 'groin area to just below his knee'.

'It was pretty much all taken... there was nothing there, it was just hanging there by not much,' he said.

A sign at Greenmount Beach alerts swimmers and surfers that the beach is closed on Wednesday

Surfer Jade Parker told 7News he first spotted a school of fish and up to 30 birds near the victim, which is what attracted the shark to the surfer

Queensland Ambulance Supervisor William Houghton said the man had been surfing with a few other gentlemen. 

'It was actually witnessed by one of the other surfers, they saw him being attacked by the shark,' he said.

Mr Houghton said lifesavers provided first aid on the beach.

'It was a pretty traumatic event for everybody concerned,' he said.

Greenmount Beach, located near the Queensland-New South Wales border, has shark control equipment including drum lines.

It is not yet known how the shark avoided the nets to get to the man. 

Pictures show paramedics and lifeguards desperately tending to the man's injuries in the back of a beach buggy. 

Members of the public were seen holding up a sheet to cover him as he receives treatment for the bite.  

Greenmount Beach, located near the Queensland-New South Wales border, has shark control equipment surrounding it including nets

The horrific mauling unfolded at Greenmount Beach just after 5pm by a great white shark (stock image) 

The man was surfing near the Tweed Heads and Coolangatta Lifesaving Club when he was attacked.

Beaches north and south of Greenmount were immediately cleared and the police helicopter is searching for the shark.

The attack is the first on the Gold Coast since 2012, when a 20-year-old surfer was mauled at Nobby Beach.

It is the first fatal attack in the region since in 62 years when Peter Gerard Spronk was killed in 1958.

He was mauled by a shark 250m off Surfers Paradise beach and died of his injuries despite lifesavers coming to his rescue.   

Beaches across the Gold Coast are expected to be closed on Wednesday.