Shark experts investigate attack on swimmer near San Diego | WTAQ News Discussion | 97.5 FM · 1360 AM

By Daniel Trotta

(Reuters) – Experts are investigating the bite of a swimmer by a shark near San Diego, seeking to determine the species and uncover clues to explain the rare event, a leading shark researcher said on Monday .

A 46-year-old man who was swimming with a dozen other people in Del Mar was bitten in the torso, left arm and hand about 100 yards from shore Sunday, a Del Mar lifeguard spokesman said. according to the San. Diego Union-Tribune.

The beach remained closed Monday, with a “shark incident” advisory.

Sharks, including great whites, come close to swimmers, surfers and paddlers virtually every day in the waters off Del Mar and Torrey Pines Beach in San Diego, experts say, but only 20 bite unprovoked incidents have been recorded in San Diego County over the past 98 years. years, according to the International Shark Attack File database.

In May, a shark knocked a surfer off his board about 40 miles off the coast of San Clemente, the city said.

Chris Lowe, professor of marine biology and director of the Shark Lab at California State University, Long Beach, led a team to Del Mar on Sunday to collect water samples in hopes that the cells shed by the The animal could be recovered and tested to reveal DNA. the species.

The Shark Lab team also hopes to gain access to the swimmer's medical records and wetsuit to measure bite marks, which could also reveal the shark's size and approximate age, Lowe said.

“There are a lot of sharks out there and a lot of people around each other every day. So we don’t really know why this particular event happened,” said Lowe, whose team has tagged 225 juvenile white sharks and is monitoring their movements.

San Diego waters, similar to those in the Santa Cruz-Monterey area, are considered concentration sites where sharks frequently feed.

Shark bites are even less likely in these areas, Lowe said, probably because these sharks are accustomed to humans and are less likely to confuse them with more typical prey such as sea lions.

“It could have been a new shark coming into the area that wasn't used to people and made a mistake,” Lowe said.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; editing by Mary Milliken and Bill Berkrot)