Surfer hospitalized after apparent shark attack off California beach

PACIFICA, Calif. — A California man was hospitalized on Friday after he was reportedly bitten by a shark while surfing in the Pacific Ocean, authorities said.

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According to a news release from the Pacifica Police Department, the 52-year-old man, who has not been identified, was injured at about 3:45 p.m. PDT while surfing at Linda Mar Beach.

The man told officers he had been in the water surfing when he was bitten on his lower leg, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The man was able to exit the water but told authorities he could not see what had bitten his leg, according to the newspaper.

A photo obtained by KTVU showed two large gashes on the front of the man’s left calf.

The photo was taken by Evan Barbarick, who said he and a friend witnessed the attack.

“So my friend and I were surfing next to the guy that got attacked,” Barbarick told the television station. “And he basically mentioned something along the lines of, ‘Hey, I got bit and was sort of struggling in the water.’ And my friend asked him if there was a bad bite and he said ‘Yes.’

“And then we were all able to get on our boards and get out of there and yeah, when we got back, he had a pretty good-looking bite around the side of his leg.”

The man was taken to an area hospital with injuries that were not considered to be life-threatening, police said.

According to Chris Lowe, a professor at California State University Long Beach and head of the school’s shark lab, it is common for sharks to bite a human and swim away, the Chronicle reported.

Lowe told the newspaper that most sharks abandon their attacks after realizing their prey is human.

It was unclear what type of shark may have bitten the victim. However, great white sharks have been observed in the area most frequently in August, September and October, KCRA-TV reported.

The predators are usually in the area because those months coincide with the migration of male California sea lions and juvenile northern elephant seals, according to the National Park Service.

Earlier this month, a swimmer was reported missing near Port Reyes National Seashore after witnesses reported seeing a shark nearby, KCRA reported.

Felix Louis N’jai, an avid kite surfer and tech entrepreneur, has yet to be found, according to SFGate.com.

Linda Mar Beach is about 44 miles south of the area where N’jai was reported missing, KCRA reported.