A man was bitten in an apparent shark attack and three people were taken to hospital after being stung by stingrays as unwelcome sea creatures troubled South Coast swimmers over the weekend.The NSW Ambulance Service attended to three people stung by stingrays in separate incidents within two hours on Saturday.At 11.41am, a man in his 40s was stung while swimming at Broulee Beach, near Moruya.The second incident involved a 58-year-old man at Myola near Callala Beach at 11.47am, while a 16-year-old youth was stung at 1.09pm near Huskisson. An ambulance spokesman said all three victims had been conscious and stable after being stung, but were in extreme pain.They were taken to hospital as a precaution. Surf Life Saving Illawarra president David Briggs said stingray stings along that area of the coast were "rare".Stingrays generally do not attack aggressively, or even actively defend themselves.However, when they are stepped on, the barbed stinger in their tail whips up.Many surfers slide their feet through the sand rather than stepping, as the rays detect this and swim away.Meantime, a man has been bitten while swimming near Batemans Bay in what may have been a shark attack.The man's bloody hand was treated by lifeguards at Surf Beach after he emerged from the water about 4.30pm on Saturday. A spokesman from Surf Life Saving NSW said it may have been a shark, but the man did not see what attacked him and no sharks were sighted in the area. "A gentleman came out of the water towards the lifesaver with his hand all bleeding," the spokesman said."The lifesaver noticed there were some distinctive marks and some scrape marks where he's pulled away."The man was treated at the scene and went home on his own.There was a shark sighting at Austinmer Beach yesterday around 11am. Lifesavers cleared the beach and searched the water until it was declared safe.