LOS ANGELES — A great white shark that bit and seriously injured a 62-year-old swimmer last month in Monterey Bay was about 15 feet long, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
The incident occurred just before 11 a.m. on June 22 in the waters off Lovers Point Beach near the community of Pacific Grove.
A swimmer, identified by the San Francisco Chronicle as Steve Bruemmer, suffered major injuries to his stomach and leg but survived.
Bruemmer said he was about 150 yards from the beach when he was attacked, the Chronicle reported. The shark eventually let him go and swam away.
Two paddleboarders and a surf instructor rescued the swimmer from the water and pulled him to the beach, where he was treated by a doctor and two nurses before being taken to Natividad Medical Center in Salinas, the Chronicle reported.
The shark was not found after the attack.
Shortly after the attack, rumors began circulating that the shark had been 20 feet long, the Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
But the department's estimate of 14 feet to 15 feet, based on wound photo measurements and an examination of the victim's damaged wetsuit, is "within the normal range for white sharks in the area."
"Average adult white sharks range from about 12 to 15 feet long, with females larger than males," the department said in a release, adding that there are "almost no confirmed reports of sharks much bigger than 15 to 18 feet long."
The incident marked the second shark attack of 2022 in California, with the first occurring off San Miguel Island.
There is no indication that shark attacks have been increasing in frequency off the California coast, according to wildlife officials.
"Shark incidents remain extremely rare, this was the 203rd incident since 1950 and the 109th where there was an injury," the department said.
