Shark attack leads to closure of Del Mar beaches in San Diego County

DEL MAR, Calif. (KABC) – Two men describe the terrifying moments when they jumped into action to save a man who was attacked by a shark off Del Mar in San Diego County.

The incident occurred about 100 yards from shore on Sunday morning. City officials say the victim, a 46-year-old man named Caleb, was in the water with a group of about a dozen swimmers at the time.

In an exclusive interview with Eyewitness News, swimmers Cameron Whiting and Kevin Barrett said their instinct kicked in when they heard his cries for help.

“We heard screaming and just from the tone of the screaming you could tell it was serious,” Whiting said. “You have to realize you’re swimming into an active shark attack and that’s scary, but there’s no real alternative and he’s one of us and we have to catch him.”

Although it is unclear what species of shark attacked Caleb, swimmers say juvenile great white sharks pose the greatest threat in the area.

They noticed that he had been bitten in the chest and later learned that he had struck the shark in an attempt to escape.

“He caught the shark on the tooth and had a pretty big cut on his hand, which was also bleeding a lot,” Barret said.

“We didn’t know how severe the injuries were, but there was definitely a lot of blood in the water, so we started pulling him in. A surfer came over and gave us his board,” Whiting said. “(I) put him on the board, jumped on him and started paddling in.”

The lifeguards were not even on duty yet, but by chance they arrived early, helped the swimmers and called an ambulance.

“It just so happened that an ambulance was passing by on the beach, so he came and helped as well. I think all the stars aligned to help Caleb,” Barret said.

The victim was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The water main closure will remain in place until at least Tuesday morning, Del Mar city officials said.

This shark attack occurred a week after a surfer was knocked off his board by a shark off San Clemente.