Fatal shark attack forces beach closures near San Diego

By ALLISON HOFFMAN Associated Press Writer

SOLANA BEACH, Calif. (AP) - A shark on Friday attacked and killed a 66-year-old swimmer who was training in the ocean off San Diego County with a group of triathletes, authorities said.

The man was attacked by what authorities believe was a great white shark at Tide Beach around 7 a.m., authorities said.

The man, a local resident whose identity was not immediately released, was taken to a lifeguard station for emergency treatment but was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a statement on the Solana Beach city Web site.

The man's injuries crossed both thighs and were made "by what is probably a great white shark," San Diego County sheriff's Sgt. Randy Webb said in a statement.

"It looks like the shark came up, bit him, and swam away," said Solana Beach Deputy Fire Chief Dismas Abelman.

The attack took place about 150 yards offshore. Several swimmers wearing wetsuits were in a group when the shark attacked, said Solana Beach lifeguard Craig Miller. Two swimmers were about 20 yards ahead of the man when they heard him scream for help. They turned around and dragged him back to shore.

Swimmers were ordered out of the water for a 17-mile stretch around the attack site and county authorities sent up helicopters to scan the waters for the shark.

"The shark is still in the area. We're sure of that," Mayor Joe Kellejian said.

Rob Hill, a member of the Triathlon Club of San Diego, said he was running on the beach while about nine other members were in the water when the attack took place.

"They saw him come up out of the water, scream 'shark,' flail his arms and go back under," Hill said.

"The flesh was just hanging," and the man may have bled to death before he left the water, Hill said.

He declined to identify the man but said he was a retiree who lived just blocks from the beach.

Hill said club members had been meeting at the beach for at least six years and never had seen a shark.

However, Hill said he saw a seal lion on the beach Friday, which was unusual for the area, and speculated that perhaps the shark had been hunting them and got close to shore.

The shark may have confused the wet-suited swimmers with his prey, he said.

Solana Beach is 14 miles northwest of San Diego.

Shark attacks are extremely rare. There were 71 confirmed unprovoked cases worldwide last year, up from 63 in 2006, according to the University of Florida. Only one 2007 attack, in the South Pacific, was fatal.

The last fatal shark attack in California, according to data from the state Department of Fish and Game, took place in 2004, when a man skin diving for abalone was attacked by a great white shark off the coast of Mendocino County.

On Aug. 19, 2003, a woman swimmer was killed by a great white at Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County on the central California coast.

The last fatal shark attack along San Diego County was off Ocean Beach in April 1994.