46-year-old man injured in apparent shark attack in California
(CNN) — A 46-year-old man required surgery after he was bitten multiple times by a shark while swimming off the coast of San Diego, according to local authorities.
The man “sustained multiple bites” in Del Mar, California Sunday morning, Jon Edelbrock, community services director and chief lifeguard for the city, told CNN.
The incident occurred just before 9 a.m. about 100 yards off the Del Mar shore in front of lifeguard headquarters, Edelbrock said.
The victim was among a group of experienced swimmers who routinely swim in the area when he was bitten in the mid-section of his body and suffered arm and hand injuries, Edelbrock said.
He was able to get to shore with help from his friends. Lifeguards provided pre-hospital care and he was quickly transported to a trauma center.
“He had obvious injuries from the incident that required surgery, mostly large lacerations,” Edelbrock said.
As a result, a two-mile stretch of the beach will be closed for 48 hours, Edelbrock said.
After the attack, researchers from California State University Long Beach’s Shark Lab responded to take water samples and analyze the victim’s wet suit for possible DNA to try to determine the size and type of shark involved.
Most likely it was a juvenile white shark, Shark Lab Director Chris Lowe told CNN.
Researchers will try a new scientific tool to hopefully one day be able to determine if the shark involved in Sunday’s incident can be detected in the area at another time.
“We hope to use it in the future to monitor and help lifeguards manage beaches,” Lowe said.
Although sharks are abundant in the area, shark bites are rare, Lowe said.
“What’s interesting is that we’ve been monitoring that site because it’s known as a juvenile aggregation site,” he said. “We’ve tagged over 60 sharks there over the years and they’re detected routinely. We detected four today.”
A drone study conducted by the lab and published last year found that across California, young white sharks swam very close to people without swimmers even noticing.
And there is a lower probability of being bitten at a shark aggregation site than at a non-aggregation site, Lowe said.
“Sharks are known to avoid people, but every once in a while, they make mistakes,” Lowe said. “It’s possible the shark involved this incident was literally just passing through and hadn’t had a chance to encounter people.”
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