The water area at a beach in Del Mar will be closed to swimmers and surfers Monday following a shark attack that left a man with bites on his torso, arm and hand.
A 46-year-old man was attacked by a shark Sunday, prompting temporary beach closures in Del Mar, authorities said.
The attack occurred around 9 a.m. about 100 yards offshore from the Beach Safety Center at 17th Street, according to the city.
"The victim was transported by ambulance to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla with injuries that are significant but not believed to be life- threatening. The injuries included bites to the torso, left arm and hand," the city reported.
The victim was in a group of about a dozen swimmers who meet regularly to train in Del Mar, city officials said.
Researchers say the attack is a rare occasion, but sightings of sharks at this beach are not.
"Del Mar has been an aggregation site for almost five years now. So at this time of year, female white sharks are coming back to Southern California, and they're giving birth to their young. We don't know where. We just know that those babies show up at our beaches. There's no parental care, so they're completely on their own," said Dr. Chris Lowe, a professor of Marine Biology and the director of the Shark Lab at Long Beach State University.
The lab was given funding to study juvenile white sharks off public beaches.
"There are thousands of people that are using those beaches from Solana Beach all the way down to Torrey Pines, and we know that there's probably been up to at least 50 juvenile white sharks using those areas at the same time," Lowe said.
Their drone footage shows the sharks swimming alongside swimmers and surfers who are minding their own business.
"You would expect the probability of bites to be much higher. So while it's unfortunate, and we feel really bad for the person who's bitten. It's incredibly rare," he said.
The Shark Lab is now trying to find out what happened and who the actual suspect is. Lowe said they're pulling a page from human forensic analysis.
"There's a chance we might be able to match the DNA from the (attack victim's) wetsuit with the DNA that we extract from the water. And if so, this would be the first time it's ever been done. So we just don't know if there's enough DNA present for us to do that," he said.
The DNA will help determine the shark’s age and whether it's just passing through Del Mar or staying around.
That will take some time to determine. In the meantime, lifeguards temporarily closed beaches for swimming and surfing one mile in both directions from the incident, roughly from Sixth Street to North Beach. A water closure will remain in effect until at least 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Lifeguards advise to swim in groups, near staffed lifeguard towers, and be aware of your surroundings.
