A 46-year-old swimmer was bitten by a shark about 100 yards offshore from the main Del Mar lifeguard tower at 17th Street, bottom right.(K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

A group of ocean swimmers were about 100 yards offshore near the main lifeguard tower when the man was bitten on his torso, left arm and hand around 9 a.m.

by Karen Kucher and Kristen Taketa
June 2, 2024

DEL MAR — A 46-year-old swimmer suffered “significant” injuries Sunday morning when he was bitten by a shark off Del Mar — and officials told people to stay out of the water in the area for the next two days as a precaution.
The attack was reported around 9 a.m., about 100 yards offshore from the main lifeguard tower at 17th Street, officials said.

The man was bitten as he was swimming with about a dozen ocean swimmers who meet regularly at the site, said Chief Lifeguard and Community Services Director Jonathan Edelbrock.

No one reported seeing the shark before the man was injured. “Everybody was stunned,” Edelbrock said.

As the group went out for the swim, the sky was overcast and the water was murky, with low visibility. The group was heading back to the shore when the shark bite occurred.

Lifeguards in a boat patrol near where a man was bitten by a shark in front of the main lifeguard tower at 17th Street in Del Mar. (K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The victim suffered bites to his torso, left arm and hand. He was transported to a hospital to be treated.

After swimmers helped the man to shore, lifeguards provided medical aid, applying a tourniquet to staunch the bleeding in his “right upper extremity,” Edelbrock said.

“There was a lot of bleeding, so they determined it was likely an arterial wound in the left hand and wrist area,” Edelbrock said. “He had significant injuries to his torso for sure.”

Edelbrock said he thought the man’s rib cage blocked the shark’s bite from hitting “just soft tissue, which would be a much bigger problem.”

The shark was almost certainly a great white, judging by the extent of the injuries and the tooth spacing shown by the bite mark, said Chris Lowe, director of California State University Long Beach’s Shark Lab, which studies shark movement and behavior in southern California.

The swimmer described feeling a bump, then a bite — and then the shark was “coming back toward him,” the lifeguard chief said, and “that’s when his hand and arm got involved.”

A 2-mile stretch of beach was closed to swimmers and surfers as a precaution after a shark attack. (K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

It’s unclear why the shark bit the man, Lowe said. Given the murky water, the shark could have accidentally bitten the man while feeding on fish. The shark also could have been startled and bitten the man as a defensive reflex.

The water from Del Mar down to Torrey Pines is considered one of Southern California’s hubs for juvenile great white sharks, which have grown in population in recent years amid conservation efforts, Lowe said.

But even though the sharks have been in close proximity with people over the past six years, such hubs don’t see higher rates of shark bites than areas with few great whites, Lowe said.

Shark bites remain extremely rare, Lowe and Edelbrock said. The last time Del Mar saw a shark bite was more than a year and a half ago, even though tens of thousands of people may visit the beach on a given day.

“You have a better chance of winning a Powerball,” Lowe said.

Scientists with the Shark Lab will measure the bite diameter and take water samples to try and match DNA from the swimmer’s wet suit with DNA in the water, to see if the shark is still in the area, Lowe said.

Officials said lifeguards planned to post signs warning surfers and swimmers to stay out of the water. The closures will stretch from Sixth Street to North Beach and will be in effect until Tuesday morning, Edelbrock said.

Lifeguards also were notifying neighboring jurisdictions.

Despite the no-swimming order, the beach was bustling with hundreds of people Sunday afternoon, with children wading in the water.

Some beachgoers said they were surprised to hear of the shark incident but were not concerned about safety as long as they stayed close to shore. Several said they were disappointed they were being told to stay out of the water.

Kalea Barger, 10, was picking up her Junior Lifeguard uniform on Sunday with her dad when she heard about the shark bite.

“I was like, dang, we don’t really get any out here,” Kalea said.

The last shark bite reported in Del Mar occurred on Nov. 4, 2022, roughly in the same area as Sunday’s attack. In that case, a 50-year-old woman out swimming with a friend was bitten on her upper thigh. She was hospitalized and treated for punctures and lacerations.

In an interview in the hospital a few days after the attack, Lyn Jutronich told ABC 10 News she felt a “really hard hit” between her legs as the shark pushed her up and out of the water. After clamping on her right leg, Jutronich said it then shook her once “kind of like a dog” before releasing her.

Staff photographer K.C. Alfred contributed to this report.