A 46-year-old man was hospitalized with serious injuries Sunday after being attacked by a shark while swimming off Del Mar in San Diego County.
ABC News 10 reports that the man was distance training with other swimmers about 100 yards offshore when the shark struck at about 9 a.m.
The unidentified man was transported to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla with injuries to his torso, left arm and hand. He is expected to survive.
The incident occurred beyond the Beach Safety Center at 17th Street, according to NBC News 7.
Lifeguards closed area beaches to swimming and surfing until 9 a.m. Tuesday.
The type of shark was not specified, but coastal waters off Del Mar and nearby Torrey Pines State Beach are utilized as a nursery by juvenile white sharks.
Juvenile white sharks prey largely on rays and other types of fish, while adult white sharks prey mostly on seals and sea lions.
In November 2022, a 50-year-old woman survived an attack by a presumed white shark while swimming 200 yards offshore in Del Mar.
Lyn Jutronich, the victim, was quoted afterward by ABC News:
“I saw it clamp on my leg so I don’t know if I saw it bite my leg or if I saw it after it bit my leg but I definitely saw the mouth. It was on my right leg and it shook once, kind of like a dog, and it let me go.”
–Juvenile great white shark image, captured last year near Del Mar, is courtesy of ©Pete Thomas
