DEL MAR, Calif. — A man who was participating in a group swim off the coast of San Diego was attacked by a shark. The injuries were so severe that the 46-year-old man had to undergo surgery to repair the damage.
The shark attack happened about 9 a.m. on Sunday about 100 yards from the shore in Del Mar, KNSD reported. The man was swimming with about a dozen other people who regularly meet to train in the ocean.
The man, who was identified by KABC as Caleb, was bitten on his left arm, hand and torso.
Friends helped him get back on land, CNN reported.
Two swimmers told KABC that they knew what to do when Caleb was screaming for help.
“We heard some screaming and you could tell it was serious from just the tone in the screams,” Cameron Whiting said. “You have to realize that you’re swimming into an active shark attack and it’s scary, but there’s not really an alternative and he’s one of our own and we have to go bring him in.”
They said Caleb punched the shark trying to escape.
The injuries were described as significant but not life-threatening. He was taken to a La Jolla hospital for treatment.
“We didn’t know the extent of the injuries, but there was definitely a lot of blood in the water and so we started pulling him in, a surfer came over and gave us his board,” Whiting said. “(I) put him on the board and I jumped on top of him and started paddling in.”
Luckily, shark experts were at the scene, quickly guiding first responders on what to do.
“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,” chief lifeguard John Edelbrock told KNSD.
An emergency room doctor was also walking along the beach and helped to render aid to Caleb.
Officials ended up closing the beach.
It is not known what type of shark attacked the man, but the Del Mar area has a large number of juvenile great white sharks.
“What’s interesting is that we’ve been monitoring that site because it’s known as a juvenile aggregation site,” Shark Lab Director Chris Lowe told CNN. “We’ve tagged over 60 sharks there over the years and they’re detected routinely. We detected four today.”
Edelbrock said it was the second time in more than a year that the area had a shark attack.
A woman was bitten in the thigh by a shark in November 2022. She survived. A surfer in nearby Morro Bay was bitten by a great white on December 24, 2022, and was killed.
The San Clemente beach was closed last week after sightings of aggressive sharks.
Still, shark bites are rare, according to marine biologists.
“It’s certainly important for everyone to know that shark bites are very rare. We can talk about the statistics and compare them to other things like vending machines falling down on people,” Dovi Kacev told KNSD.
“Sharks are known to avoid people, but every once in a while, they make mistakes,” Lowe told CNN. “It’s possible the shark involved this incident was literally just passing through and hadn’t had a chance to encounter people.”
The Del Mar beach was expected to reopen on Tuesday.
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