Shark attack in Del Mar: 46-year-old man injured in San Diego County

CNN
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A 46-year-old man required surgery after being bitten multiple times by a shark while swimming off the coast of San Diego, local authorities said.

The man was “bitten multiple times” on Sunday morning in Del Mar, California, Jon Edelbrock, the city’s director of social services and chief lifeguard, told CNN.

The incident occurred shortly before 9 a.m. about 100 yards off the Del Mar shore in front of lifeguard headquarters, Edelbrock said.

The victim was part of a group of experienced swimmers who regularly swim in the area when he was bitten in the midsection and suffered injuries to his arm and hand, Edelbrock said.

With the help of his friends, he managed to get to shore. Lifeguards gave him first aid and he was quickly taken to a trauma center.

“He had obvious injuries in the incident that required surgery, mainly large lacerations,” Edelbrock said.

As a result, a three-kilometer-long stretch of beach will be closed for 48 hours, Edelbrock said.

After the attack, researchers at the Shark Lab at California State University Long Beach took water samples and examined the victim’s wetsuit for possible DNA to determine the size and species of shark involved.

It was most likely a young great white shark, Chris Lowe, head of the Shark Lab, told CNN.

Researchers will test a new scientific tool to hopefully one day determine whether the shark involved in Sunday’s incident can be spotted in the area at another time.

“We hope to use it in the future to monitor and assist lifeguards in managing the beaches,” Lowe said.

Although there are many sharks in the area, shark bites are rare, Lowe said.

“What’s interesting is that we’ve been monitoring this location because it’s known as a gathering place for juvenile fish,” he said. “We’ve tagged over 60 sharks there over the years and they’re spotted regularly. Today we spotted four.”

A drone study conducted by the lab and published last year found that across California, juvenile great white sharks swam very close to people without the swimmers even noticing.

And the chances of being bitten at a shark congregation site are lower than at a site without a shark congregation site, Lowe said.

“Sharks are known to avoid humans, but every now and then they make mistakes,” Lowe said. “It’s possible that the shark involved in this incident was literally just passing through and had no opportunity to encounter humans.”