A fantastic white shark that bit and severely injured a 62-year-old swimmer final month in Monterey Bay was about 15 ft lengthy, the California Division of Fish and Wildlife stated.
The incident occurred simply earlier than 11 a.m. on June 22 within the waters off Lovers Level Seashore close to the group of Pacific Grove.
A swimmer, recognized by the San Francisco Chronicle as Steve Bruemmer, suffered main accidents to his abdomen and leg however survived.
Bruemmer stated he was about 150 yards from the seaside when he was attacked, the Chronicle reported. The shark ultimately let him go and swam away.
Two paddleboarders and a surf teacher rescued the swimmer from the water and pulled him to the seaside, the place he was handled by a physician and two nurses earlier than being taken to Natividad Medical Heart in Salinas, the Chronicle reported.
The shark was not discovered after the assault.
Shortly after the assault, rumors started circulating that the shark had been 20 ft lengthy, the Division of Fish and Wildlife stated.
However the division’s estimate of 14 ft to fifteen ft, based mostly on wound photograph measurements and an examination of the sufferer’s broken wetsuit, is “inside the regular vary for white sharks within the space.”
“Common grownup white sharks vary from about 12 to fifteen ft lengthy, with females bigger than males,” the division stated in a launch, including that there are “nearly no confirmed experiences of sharks a lot larger than 15 to 18 ft lengthy.”
The incident marked the second shark assault of 2022 in California, with the primary occurring off San Miguel Island.
There isn’t any indication that shark assaults have been growing in frequency off the California coast, based on wildlife officers.
“Shark incidents stay extraordinarily uncommon, this was the 203rd incident since 1950 and the 109th the place there was an harm,” the division stated.
