Fatal Shark Attack - San Diego, CA

[Mudharp]

I just caught this on the news wire:

http://www.10news.com/news/15993296/detail.html

Beach Closed After Man Dies In Shark Attack

POSTED: 9:08 am PDT April 25, 2008
UPDATED: 9:33 am PDT April 25, 2008


SAN DIEGO -- A shark attack on a man was reported at Solana Beach Friday by San Diego County Sheriffs. The man died at the scene, sheriffs reported.

The waters off the beach are closed from Del Mar to Solana Beach. The beaches are still open.

A witness who was part of a surfing group told 10News of seeing a swimmer bitten by a shark below both knees. The group of surfers took the man to the shore where he died due to massive injuries, Sheriff's deputies said.

[Beachbumhippie]

Thats very sad bro, peace be with him.

[isaluteyou]

anybody have any idea of what type of shark.

[CHarvey]

They don't know for sure but they are guessing that it was a great white.

[Surfing-Innovation]

anybody have any idea of what type of shark.

I'm kind of thinking that's a bit irrelevant - all you need to know/worry about is that it's the type of shark that bites people in half!!

[/list]

[isaluteyou]

They don't know for sure but they are guessing that it was a great white.

I know you get them in san diego but never personally seen one. The only shark i have seen is a leopard shark in the water.

wasnt the last fatality in san diego like 50 odd years ago or something

[SDCali]

People are saying that they were mistaken for seals by the shark. That's why I don't wear a wetsuit when I swim in the ocean.
Now they have closed the waters around there until monday.

[greg@hoodatsurfco]

Up here in northern california this is expected annual news haha.

Sucks for that guy though.

[billie_morini]

isaluteyou: "wasnt the last fatality in san diego like 50 odd years ago or something"
billie: There was a report of a surfer killed by shark in 1957 or 1959, but authorities believe it was a hoax. In 1994 a swimming woman was killed in SD county and, while authorities believe it was a shark attack, friends and family believe it was foul play

[parrysurf]

sucks for him and his family

By: Darlene Conolly and Surfline Staff
April 25, 2008
Dave Martin, 66-year-old swimmer from Solana Beach, was killed by a 17-foot white shark while training for a triathlon near Table Tops in Solana Beach on Friday at 7am. According to Solana Beach firefighters who responded to the attack, the shark only took one bite. It was fatal. Having clamped down on the victim's legs, the shark likely severed the vital arteries in the man's upper thighs, causing him to rapidly lose fatal amounts of blood.
The victim was swimming just outside of the lineup along with about 10 other wetsuited triathletes when he began yelling and was pulled under water. Although his legs were still intact, by the time the other swimmers were able to pull the man to the beach, he had already lost significant amounts of blood. He was pronounced dead upon the arrival of medical assistance according to Deputy Fire Chief Dismas Abelman.
Local surfer Rob Blase was sitting in the lineup at Pillbox, just to the south, when the attack happened. "The group of triathletes swam straight out from the ramp at Pillbox," said Blase. "They swam out towards the kelp beds and then headed north. They were maybe five minutes into their swim when I heard some screams. I heard the one guy yelling, "Shark!" By the time I was able to paddle to the swimmers, they were pulling him onto the beach and the lifeguards saw it too. They were on it, giving him CPR."

Blase continued, "The top half of the bite was right above the kneecap level. They said the bite width was 22 inches across. It just shredded his wetsuit. From the time it happened until the time they brought him in, it was probably seven to eight minutes. But he was already as white as a ghost."

U.S. Coasty Guard and local lifeguards are currently searching the coastline for any sightings of the shark. But chances of spotting it are slim.

There is now a 72-hour advisory to stay out of the water. According to Solana Beach lifeguard and local surfer, Brett Jones, the beach closure spans from the City of Del Mar all the way north through Solana Beach, and up into Cardiff.

North County surfer filmmaker Ira Opper was there as the victim was brought up to the beach and said "it was horrific."

This is the first confirmed fatality from a shark attack in San Diego since 1959 when a swimmer was killed at Alligator Head at La Jolla Cove.

A little over a week ago, a couple local surfers found a three-foot baby white at Cardiff Reef. They were stand-up-paddleboarding and the shark was bumping the bottom of one of their boards. He pulled it up out of the water by the tail.

Stay tuned for more info as it becomes available.

[pkbum]

Rest in peace.

[eastcoastusa]

isaluteyou: "wasnt the last fatality in san diego like 50 odd years ago or something"
billie: There was a report of a surfer killed by shark in 1957 or 1959, but authorities believe it was a hoax. In 1994 a swimming woman was killed in SD county and, while authorities believe it was a shark attack, friends and family believe it was foul play

Well she was found in the water missing most of one of her legs...I'll leave it up to you to guess. Beaches never like to report sharks so if they dont have to they usually wont make it official.

[Bub]

Yeah, this report has really spooked me. I was just reading an article in a recent Transworld Surfer magazine that talked about the probabilities of shark attacks and how the odds of an attack really depend upon location. The writer of the article went on to say basically how incredibly safe it is to surf in San Diego waters and much more dangerous further north in San Fran area. I guess the timing of that article sure was bad considering this news. Has me spooked since alot of the local spots I surf are known hotspots for large sharks (no attacks that I'm aware of though but sharks are frequently caught by many sport fisherman just off the shore.