A 46-year-old man was taken to the hospital after being bitten by a shark in Del Mar around 9 a.m. Sunday, and Del Mar lifeguards have banned swimming and surfing at area beaches.
According to the City of Del Mar, the incident happened about 100 yards offshore from the Beach Safety Center on 17th Street.
The victim was bitten on the torso, left arm and hand, and an ambulance took him to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, city officials said.
He swam with a group of about a dozen ocean swimmers who meet regularly to train in Del Mar.
Lifeguards, following shark attack protocols developed by the California Association of Ocean Safety Officers and the Shark Lab at California State University, Long Beach, posted signs prohibiting surfing and swimming on Del Mar Beach one mile in both directions from the incident scene (from 6th Avenue to North Beach) and notified neighboring jurisdictions.
City officials said the beach closure will last until 9 a.m. Tuesday.
NBC 7 spoke with some of the many people who gathered at the beach on Sunday.
“I’m shocked to be honest, this is my favourite beach, I’m a local and this is the restaurant I go to for brunch every Sunday,” said beachgoer Marina Vasiliades.
The Del Mar lifeguard chief had expert help on the scene and provided guidance on next steps.
“We actually have the Long Beach Shark Lab here. They’re a resource for us in this state, particularly in Southern California, to get the latest and best information on how to respond to an incident like this,” City of Del Mar Lifeguard Chief John Edelbrock told NBC7.
“This is the second time in a year and a half that this has happened in Del Mar. It’s not a good day for people who love the ocean,” Edelbrock said.
“If we’ve all been paying attention over the last four years between here and Torrey Pines, [Beach] “We’ve seen quite a number of juvenile great whites in this area,” Edelbrock said.
NBC 7 also spoke with Dovi Katchev, a marine biologist and assistant professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, about whether local residents should be concerned.
“It’s certainly important for everyone to know that shark bite incidents are very rare, and we can talk about the statistics and compare them to other incidents, like vending machines falling on people,” Kaseff said.
Katchev offered some advice for those who encounter sharks:
“Please be careful when you are in that environment, and if you see a large fish or a shark and feel unsafe, of course get out of the water and tell a lifeguard and let other people know too,” Kaseff said.
As local leaders prepare to reopen beaches in the coming days, beachgoer Vasiliades is thinking about how and when he’ll enjoy them in the future.
“It’s a little too close, but the water their “Go home,” Vasiliades said.
“I’ll still be coming to the beach,” she concluded.
