Story at a glance
- A 35-year-old California surfer was hospitalized with serious injuries on Saturday after being attacked by a great white shark.
- The man swam to shore at Gray Whale Cove, near San Francisco, where first responders offered “advanced life support measures” to his right leg before taking him to the trauma unit at Zuckerberg San Francisco general hospital.
- Authorities believe the shark was a juvenile between 6 and 8 feet long.
A 35-year-old California surfer was hospitalized with serious injuries on Saturday after being attacked by a great white shark.
The man swam to shore at Gray Whale Cove, near San Francisco, where first responders offered “advanced life support measures” to his right leg before taking him to the trauma unit at Zuckerberg San Francisco general hospital. The man was reportedly released on Sunday.
“It was only one bite and there were about 10 lacerations to the back of the right thigh,” Brian Ham, battalion chief of the San Mateo fire department told CBS5.
“Usually [the sharks are] within the surf zone, so they’re within 100 feet to 200 feet of the actual beach. It’s shallow but a shark can attack very close to the beach,” Ham continued.
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Authorities believe the shark was a juvenile between 6 and 8 feet long.
Research published in 2015 suggested that surfers have approximately a 1 in 17 million chance of being attacked by a great white shark.
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Marine ecologists at Montana State University determined that the number of great whites in northern California is increasing, The Guardian reported. A seven-year study, funded by Stanford University and Monterey Bay Aquarium, estimated that there were 266 great whites in the region. The researchers noted that the increase marks a “clear indication” that ocean conditions are improving.
“We are cautiously optimistic that this is a good news story for the ocean ecosystem off California,” lead author Paul Kanive told Newsweek.
“The findings are a good indicator of the overall health [of the system]. As an apex predator, white sharks need a healthy structure of other animals in the lower levels in the food chain,” Kanive continued. “The preferred prey of the white shark, coastal seals and sea lions, have rebounded to very high numbers, thereby providing sustainable and plentiful food sources for the sharks.”
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