World

Fatal Shark Attack Off San Diego Coast

by TheBigRuski | April 25, 2008 at 09:26 am | 2553 views | 7 comments | 25 recommendations

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A triathlete swimmer was killed Friday morning in a gruesome shark attack at a San Diego County beach. UPDATE: A marine expert said the wounds appeared to be from a great white shark, an attack he described as “practically unprecedented” in the area. (Union-Tribune)

San Diego County sheriff's Lt. Mike McClain said deputies went to Solana Beach shortly before 7:30 a.m. Friday and found a shark bite victim, who was pronounced dead about an hour later.

Medics have responded to a fatal shark attack in Solana Beach. Authorities say that the 60-year-old man was swimming with a triathlon group before he was attacked. A Witness reported seeing a shark from the shore and another witness reported seeing the victim's leg being severed from the knee. Sea Experts from Sea World and Scripps Aquarium are examining bite marks on the victim to determine the type of shark that attacked the victim. Certain stretches off the coast near Carlsbad, Oceanside, Encinitas, Del Mar and all the way out to Imperial Beach have been closed.Rancho Fire is notifying bordering cities lifeguard services and Coast Guards about the attack.

1670-2007 Map of United States (incl. Hawaii) Confirmed Unprovoked Shark Attacks

"They were swimming and the victim apparently yelled ‘Shark,’ or words to that effect, and the witnesses that were in the water apparently saw him actually being lifted out of the water and drug under,” said San Diego County sheriff's spokesman Phil Brust. “They went to his aid and dragged him onto the beach, where he succumbed to his injuries.” - LA Times blog

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Rachel Nixon

flagged this story as News Wanted

at 09:43 on April 25th, 2008

Big Ruski - thanks for getting the story out quickly.

I think this is an important story and would benefit from other NowPublic contributors working on it. I've flagged it as News Wanted and invite others in relevant locations to look for more evidence.

politisite

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 12:39 on April 25th, 2008

TheBigRuski, Thankfully these are rare

Barry Artiste

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 03:44 on April 26th, 2008

TheBigRuski, I like this story. It's good stuff. Quite Shocking Ruski, Thanks for the news

It has been reported that it was a large Great White that took a single bite through both legs,

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/National/2008/04/26/5391726-sun.html

Jennings David L

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:11 on April 25th, 2008

TheBigRuski, thanks for report, and request for more news on the subject, I hope this isn't the first of more during the season. I will be curious to see if this is one of the rare hapenings or if people are disrupting their habitat somewhere.

neclimdul

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:53 on April 25th, 2008

unfortunate... good news though

at 15:05 on April 25th, 2008

Unfortunate but defnitely good info for swimmers. Would be interesting to get some stats on increas/decrease of shark attacks since the buzz is that shark attacks are rare.