Surfer injured by possible shark bite to leg off California beach, police say
A 52-year-old man surfing off a California beach suffered a possible shark bite, authorities reported.
Officers and emergency crews responded to the incident at Linda Mar Beach at 3:45 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, Pacifica police said in a news release.
A man with a gash on his lower leg told police he was surfing when something bit his leg, but he was unable to see it, police said.
He was able to paddle to shore and call for help, police said. The man was taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
“So my friend and I were surfing next to the guy that got attacked,” surfer Evan Barbarick told KTVU. “And he basically mentioned something along the lines of, ‘Hey, I got bit and was sort of struggling in the water.’”
He and other surfers paddled to shore with the injured man, Barbarick told the station.
Police ask that anyone with information call 650-738-7314 or leave an anonymous tip at 650-359-4444.
Pacifica is about 15 miles south of San Francisco.
What to know about shark attacks
Shark attacks are “extremely rare,” according to John Carlson of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“You have a better chance of getting in a car accident and being injured on your way to the beach than you do actually when you get to go swimming,” he said in a video posted to NOAA’s website.
In 2022, the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File investigated 108 shark-human interactions worldwide. Of those interactions, 57 were unprovoked shark bites, and there were nine “shark-related fatalities.”
If you see a shark in the water, however, don’t panic, Richard Peirce, former chair of the Shark Trust and Shark Conservation Society, told CNN.
“Don’t start splashing around – you’re just going to excite, incite and encourage the shark’s interest,” he told the news outlet.
Instead, maintain eye contact with the shark and read its body language. If the shark appears to be in “attack mode,” you should make yourself as large as possible, CNN reported. If it seems to just be swimming by, try to stay small.
If the shark attacks, experts told CNN you shouldn’t play dead.
“You must try and keep the animal in sight and very slowly and gently try and swim backwards and get into shallow water,” Peirce told CNN. “Again, you’ve got to be careful – large sharks can attack in very shallow depths.”
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