BEACH HORROR
Shark mauls beachgoer in front of horrified crowd in Del Mar with California coast closed for days after bloody attack
Another popular California beach was recently closed due to another attack
A SWIMMER has been rushed to the hospital after a shark bit him on three different parts of his body.
He was with a group of a dozen other swimmers who meet regularly to train in the waters when the bloody attack occurred.
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The 46-year-old man was bitten early Sunday morning 100 yards off the shore of Del Mar, California, about 22 miles north of San Diego, according to the city's .
A city official said lifeguards saw a swimmer helping another swimmer and quickly rushed over, not realizing it had been a shark attack, according to Fox affiliate .
The shark bit the man on his torso, left arm, and hand.
He was brought by ambulance to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla where doctors believe the injuries "are significant but not believed to be life-threatening."
Lifeguards have since posted signs along the beach, warning swimmers and surfers of the closure reading, "Closure: Shark Incident. Do not Enter" with the date and location.
The water will remain closed for a mile in both directions from the incident until June 4.
'I WAS SHOCKED HONESTLY'
Locals were shocked that a shark was in their waters.
"I was shocked, honestly. This is the beach that I go to, I’m a local and this is the restaurant I frequent every Sunday for brunch," Marina Vassiliades told NBC affiliate .
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"A little too close to home, but the water is their home. I will still come to the beach," she concluded.
The Chief Lifeguard for the city brought an expert to the scene to figure out how to go forward.
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"We actually have the shark lab from Long Beach here now. They’re a resource for us here in the state, specifically, Southern California, to receive the latest and greatest information on how to respond to incidents like this," City of Del Mar Chief Lifeguard John Edelbrock shared with the outlet.
"This is the second time in about a year and a half here in Del Mar, so not a good day for ocean lovers."
Marine Biologist and Assistant Teaching Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, Dovi Kacev shared some tips if you encounter a shark.
"Be aware when you’re in that environment. If you see a large fish or a large shark that makes you feel uncomfortable, of course, get out of the water and tell the lifeguards and let other people know," Kacev said.
'I'M SO LUCKY'
2023 Global Shark Attacks
In 2023, there were 79 shark bites globally
Of that number, 69 were unprovoked and 10 were provoked fatal bites.
The United States had 36 unprovoked attacks which accounted for 52% of the incidents worldwide.
Two of the attacks, one in California and the other in Hawaii, were fatal.
Consistently Florida has had the most attacks in the country with 2023 being no different. The Sunshine State had 16 attacks last year.
Three of the 10 fatalities in 2023 happened in a remote surfing spot off the coast of southern Australia known as The Eyre Peninsula.
The area is home to seals, so they lure in great whites.
The other five fatal attacks were spread out across the globe with 1 in the Bahamas, Egypt, Mexico, and New Caledonia.
According to Florida Museum's
Sunday's attack was not the first shark incident the state has seen this year.
On May 26, Evan Garcia, from San Clemente, California, was surfing 15 miles southeast of Laguna Beach when a 6-foot shark sunk its teeth into his board.
Garcia, 25, was surfing around 7:45 pm when he was knocked off his board into the water and came face-to-face with the animal, he told local Fox affiliate .
He raced back to the beach to warn others, showing his board that had a bite mark which was almost a foot in diameter.
"I feel like that's as lucky as you possibly can be," Garcia said.
"When that thing hit me from below, I knew right away that it was a shark.
"As someone who surfs a lot and spends a lot of time in the water, you always know that's a possibility but there are people out there who have been seriously injured by sharks and I'm so lucky that it only got my board."
He told the outlet that he knew by the force of the hit that the shark was aimed to attack.
"There was no doubt in my mind, the way that it hit the board from below, it was coming for me for sure," he added.
"It was strong enough to knock me completely into the water."
Footage from showed the surfer being knocked off his board into the ocean.
He thinks the shark was a 4- to 6-foot juvenile great white shark which he says "are sighted on our coast all of the time."
After an expert confirmed the bite on his board, the beach and water were cleared and closed for 24 hours.
San Clemente officials shut down ocean water at all of the city's beaches that there had been "confirmed aggressive shark behavior in the vicinity of T-Street Beach."
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"The beaches will remain open, but water access will remain closed until 8:00 pm tonight [Monday, 5/27/24], pending no additional shark sightings," the notice added.
Water access was reopened on Monday evening.
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