South African Surfer Suffers Horrific Injuries In Shark Attack, Gruesome Photos

A South African man suffered horrific injuries after being viciously attacked by a shark while surfing along the country's coastline this week ... and the photos of his wounds are gruesome.

It happened on Wednesday in Jeffreys Bay ... when 40-year-old Jason Lammers had a terrifying encounter in the water with a shark.

Lammers' surfing buddy, Mark Krieger, tells TMZ Sports the scene was very scary ... saying when he pulled up to the surf spot, Lammers was out of the water and bleeding profusely in a nearby parking lot after being bit.

According to the National Sea & Rescue Institute, Lammers suffered wounds to his right leg and torso -- and in photos that Krieger took of the injuries, you can see it all looked pretty dire.

The pictures show Lammers had deep bite marks in his body -- and in one of the photos, you can see the shark even took a chunk out of Lammers' surfboard while trying to chomp on him.

There's good news, though ... Krieger says after Lammers was treated by the NSRI and transported to a nearby hospital -- he's somehow doing well!

In fact, Krieger tells us his pal is in such good spirits -- they made him a shark attack cake to celebrate the recovery!!!