Shark attack reported in Encinitas
A 13-year-old boy diving for lobster was attacked by a shark Saturday morning near Beacon’s Beach in Encinitas, leaving him with traumatic upper body wounds, authorities said.
The attack occurred just before 7 a.m. off Neptune Avenue at the foot of Leucadia Boulevard, an hour into opening day of the lobster diving season.
The San Diego County teen was in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Rady Children’s Hospital, said hospital spokesman Carlos Delgado.
Dr. Tim Fairbanks, chief pediatric surgeon, said the boy was taken into surgery after being stabilized.
“This is a rare injury,” Fairbanks said in a brief news conference Saturday afternoon outside the emergency room. “This is not something we see much of, to be honest with you.”
The physician spoke on behalf of the boy’s family, sending a message of thanks to the bystanders who came to his aid. Otherwise, the family requested privacy.
The hospital did not release his name.
Lobster diving season opened at 6 a.m. Saturday, and the coastline was filled with several enthusiastic hunters when the boy’s screams rang out over the water, about 200 yards from shore.
Chad Hammel was lobster diving with two friends — an off-duty Oceanside police officer and a state parks lifeguard — when they heard what seemed like a diver’s excited squeals of a catch.
“I realized he was yelling, ‘I got bit, help, help!’” Hammel told OnScene TV and other news crews on the beach.
The trio pulled the badly-bleeding boy into a kayak. The rescuers applied pressure on the wound, assured the boy he was being taken care of and called to the shore for help. Warnings for other divers to exit the water were also shouted.
“His whole clavicle was ripped open,” Hammel said. “You could see the ball and socket joint.”
As the rescuers headed to shore, Hammel looked back.
“The shark was behind the kayak,” Hammel told the news crews. “He didn’t want to give up yet.”
The victim was conscious as he was airlifted to the hospital, said Encinitas lifeguard Capt. Larry Giles.
The boy’s mother was on the beach at the time of the attack, which occurred in about 9 feet of water, Giles said.
Witnesses described the shark as about 11 feet long, Giles said, although the species was not known. Hammel told reporters that it might have been a great white.
Authorities are investigating with the help of Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at California State University, Long Beach.
A shark had been spotted in the area a few weeks earlier, Giles said. An investigation that included showing witnesses photos of various kinds of sharks determined that it was not a species that is considered a threat to people.
“Over 135 species live in this area,” Giles noted. “This is their natural environment.”
Authorities have closed the coastline from Ponto Beach in Carlsbad to Swami’s Beach in Encinitas for the next 48 hours. The Stone Steps Invitational Surf Contest scheduled for Saturday has been cancelled.
“We’re asking people not to go in the water,” Giles said.
Lifeguard boats and personal water craft were patrolling the shore Saturday and a sheriff’s helicopter monitored overhead. If no shark sightings are reported after 48 hours, the beaches will likely be reopened.
Despite the closure, a surfer could be seen paddling into a break in the area Saturday morning.
Twelve prior shark attacks have been reported in San Diego County since 2000, according to the nonprofit Shark Research Committee.
On April 29, 2017, Leeanne Ericson of Vista nearly died after her right leg was mauled by a shark at San Onofre State Beach. The Vista woman gouged the shark’s eye out in a fight for her life.
The last fatal attack was on April 25, 2008, when retired veterinarian David Martin, 66, was killed by a great white shark while on a triathlon training swim off Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach.
