In response to a shark attack on a man taking part in a group swim, the affluent seaside city of Del Mar closed almost all of its beaches on Sunday, according to officials.
The 46-year-old man was bitten by a shark at 9 a.m., biting his arm, hand, and chest. He was training in the chilly waters north of San Diego with around a dozen other swimmers, according to a statement from the city of Del Mar.
With “injuries that are significant but not believed to be life-threatening,” the city reported that he was sent to a hospital in San Diego by ambulance.
According to a hospital representative, the man’s precise condition could not be disclosed.
According to the city, the incident took place within 100 yards from Del Mar’s relatively new lifeguard headquarters located on 17th Street.
One mile north and south of the facility, lifeguards on duty barred swimmers and surfers from using a portion of the Del Mar beach until nine in the morning on Monday, according to the city.
City lifeguards are responsible for 2.5 kilometers of beachfront.
The phone number and website for Torrey Pines State Beach, located south of Del Mar, were still active. According to a municipal lifeguard, Blacks Beach, a secluded but well-liked city beach in San Diego, is the closest city beach to the attack and has remained open for business, over five miles away.
According to data from the National Data Buoy Center, the incident occurred in very typical conditions for early June, with 3-foot waves and 64-degree water that was still warm enough to warrant a wetsuit.
Read Also: Costco’s New CFO Makes Bold Statement About Iconic $1.50 Hot Dog Combo
The typically gloomy and cold “June gloom” weather arrived as coastal San Diego County got ready for the yearly influx of tourists, many of whom are making the traditional migration from Arizona and its scorching summer heat.
Juvenile white sharks were found to spend more time near the coast in the spring and summer, according to research that was published in the journal Frontiers of Marine Science in April. These sharks may base their travels on “micro-scale” changes to their ecosystem, such as variations in water temperature.
What kind of shark was engaged in the attack on Sunday morning was not immediately apparent.
There were two unprovoked shark attacks in California last year, one of which was fatal, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.
According to the file, there were much less attacks than in Florida (16), which accounted for 44% of all unprovoked occurrences in the state last year and over 25% of all cases globally.
According to the data in the file, San Diego County—which contains Del Mar—led all California counties in the number of unprovoked attacks that have been documented since 1926.
The report states that board sports, such as surfing and bodyboarding, are the most popular pastime for individuals who commit random acts of violence.
