Summer is right around the corner in Southern California and as temperatures rise and the days get longer, people are beginning to flock to the beach. But for one swim group, it was a typical weekend training session at the beaches of Del Mar, California, until it wasn’t. As the group was finishing up their one-and-a-half-mile swim, one of the members began to scream “Shark!”
Just around 9 a.m. in the morning on June 2, the shark attacked one of the members of the group, a 46-year-old man. He was bitten in his torso, left arm, and hand — serious injuries but thankfully not life-threatening. The shark had initially bumped him, then bit him. The victim punched the shark in the face and called for help. Since the lifeguards were not on duty yet, members of his swim group and others in the water stepped up.
Kevin Barrett and Cameron Whiting were two of those heroes. When they heard the screams, they both sprung into action, made sure people on the beach were calling lifeguards and help, and swam towards the active shark attack. They were able to get the victim on a surfboard and bring him to shore where lifeguards looked after the victim until an ambulance arrived. Thanks to the work 0f Barrett, Whiting, the lifeguard, and others, the victim is in recovery.
Due to the attack, lifeguards closed Del Mar beach for 48 hours — it reopened on Tuesday, June 4. While shark attacks are scary, they are rare, as only 215 incidents have occurred in California since 1950 (John Ugoretz, Environmental Program Manager at California Department of Fish and Wildlife). While Del Mar is known to have many juvenile Great White Sharks in the area, it is still unknown what kind of shark was involved in this attack.
