Shark attack in California leaves swimmer with significant injuries, police say

A swimmer in California was attacked by a shark Wednesday and suffered what police described as significant injuries.

The attack happened at around 10:35 a.m. off Lovers Point Beach in Pacific Grove, a city of around 15,000 in Monterey County, south of San Jose, police said.

Police said in a statement that other swimmers jumped in to help the man.

Officials launched an aerial drone to search for the shark, but it has not been spotted. All beaches in Pacific Grove will be closed until Saturday as a precaution, the police department said.

Pacific Grove City Council member Joe Amelia told NBC affiliate KSBW of Salinas that the man was a surfer and that he suffered serious injuries to his stomach and a leg.

Shark attacks on humans in California are rare, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

It is the second case of an injury from a shark in California this year, department spokesperson Kirsten Macintyre said. The first was at San Miguel Island in February, when a diver suffered a minor injury to a foot.

There have been 203 encounters between humans and sharks in California since 1950, and Wednesday’s incident was the 109th in which a person was injured, she said.

In the 2020s, two people have died and six others have suffered nonfatal injuries in encounters with sharks in California, according to the Fish and Wildlife Department’s website.

Wednesday’s attack was the second recorded incident with a shark at Lovers Point. The first was in 1952, and the victim died, Macintyre said.

DNA tests will confirm what kind of shark was involved in Wednesday’s incident, she said.