San Diego Shark Attack Fatality Solana Beach

SOLANA BEACH - Several North County beaches were closed Friday morning after a man was killed in a shark attack off Fletcher Cove, officials said.

The swimmer, who was believed to be in his 50s, was attacked as he was swimming about 150 yards offshore shortly after 7 a.m., officials said.

A helicopter initially was sent to take the man to a hospital, but he was pronounced dead at a lifeguard station.

Witnesses told lifeguards that a "big gray shark" attacked the man, biting both his lower legs, said Solana Beach Marine Safety Capt. Craig Miller. The man has not been identified.

The man was swimming with a group of about 10 others, heading north from Fletcher Cove, when the attack occurred. The group regularly swims at the cove. All the swimmers were wearing wet suits.

Miller said two of the swimmers were about 20 yards ahead of the victim when he was attacked. They heard the victim screaming, went to his aid and brought him to shore, he said.

Encinitas Lifeguard Lt. Paul Chapman, who went to Fletcher Cove after the attack, said the victim's legs had suffered deep jagged lacerations, from the upper thighs to the lower shin, with a bite radius of about 22 inches.

"Wherever that thing is right now," Chapman said, "it's pretty good-sized."

Shark attacks are extremely rare in Southern California.

"I can't remember a shark ever being in this area before," Miller said.

Officials closed beaches in Solana Beach, Del Mar and Encinitas after the attack.

Lifeguards in two vehicles were patrolling Solana Beach's 1.7 miles of coastline and a sheriff's helicopter flew overhead Friday morning, telling people to stay out of the water.

Beach closure signs also were posted.

"This is a tragic situation for Solana Beach and the surrounding areas and the county of San Diego," said Solana Beach Mayor Joe Kellejian.

Kellejian urged the public to listen to safety officers and to stay out of the water.

"It just doesn't happen. A shark attack is unheard of," said Solana Beach Deputy Fire Chief Dismas Abelman.

In Encinitas, the city just north of Solana Beach, extra lifeguards were called in and they cleared the water as a precaution, warning surfers face-to-face not to go out.

"We're keeping the water clear and informing people that they shouldn't be in the water," Chapman said. "A couple people have chosen to go in the water and surf at Swami's and one at Beacons, against our advice."

Advertisement Chapman said that seals and sea lions have been beaching themselves in the area - he said a crew from Sea World was on its way to rescue one as he spoke. Such beachings are a possible sign of a large predator in the coastal waters.

"Those are signs that say this isn't the place to go," Chapman said. "We have one person fatally wounded and we have sea life exiting the water. It's better to say out of the water and give it time."

He also said a juvenile great white shark washed up on a nearby beach a few weeks before.

Officials are trying to determine how long beaches should be closed. Solana Beach may close its beaches as long as 72 hours, Miller said. If swimmers ignore the ban, he said, sheriff's deputies would be called to enforce the order.

The swimmers who were with the victim were taken to a community center to be debriefed, Abelman said.

A Coast Guard helicopter was sent to the area. The crew helped clear the area and spotters were trying to "spot the culprit," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Clinton Dotson.

So far, no San Diego beaches have been closed, San Diego lifeguard Lt. Nick Lerma said. "It happened a significant distance from us, so we're sort of status quo," Lerma said.

The state lifeguards who patrol Carlsbad's shoreline also did not feel the need to close that city's beaches, but did post warning signs and were broadcasting advisories from loudspeakers at lifeguard posts, said Lifeguard Travis Fryant.

"It's not a mandatory closure," Fryant said. "We're letting the public know the facts and letting them make their own decisions about it."

Lifeguards in Oceanside were also broadcasting warnings over their stations' loudspeakers, said city Lifeguard Emile Lagendijk.

The ocean temperatures off the coast are in the upper 50s, fairly typical for this time of year, according to Jim Purpura, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service office in Rancho Bernardo.

The last time a shark was confirmed to have killed someone in San Diego County waters was in 1994.

The victim, 25-year-old Michelle Von Emster, went for a nighttime swim by herself in Ocean Beach April 14.

Her body, with her leg severed at midthigh, was found the following day two miles to the south, near the surfing area known as Garbage Reef.

Investigators determined she drowned after being bitten by a great white shark.

Homicide detectives were called in after friends of the victim raised questions of foul play.

Friends said the woman - whose body was found unclothed - would not swim alone or without a swim suit. They also wondered why Von Emster's purse was found on the bluffs above the beach, and why her clothing was never found.

Reports of a great white shark at the same spot raised alarms in 2003, two years after great white shark sightings caused a scare at the venerable surf spot at San Onofre State Beach. No one was harmed either time.

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A group of nine swimmers entered the water near Fletcher Cove and swam northward, according to a San Diego County Sheriff's Department spokesman. While they were swimming, a 66-year-old man was bitten on both thighs, the spokesman said. Other swimmers looked back and saw the man flailing before he was pulled under the water, the spokesman said.

Witnesses said the victim resurfaced screaming. Several other swimmers pulled the man to shore.

Lifeguards arrived and a helicopter ambulance was called, but the victim bled to death on the beach.

Helicopter video showed lifeguards, firefighters and police gathered at the main lifeguard station in Solana Beach. What appeared to be the victim's body covered by a yellow tarp was visible under a portable shade structure behind the headquarters.

The victim's identity was not immediately known.

Lifeguards did not know what kind of shark attacked the man, but they speculated that it was a great white.

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SOLANA BEACH - A shark attacked and killed a swimmer who was training in the ocean off San Diego County with a group of local triathletes, authorities said.

A man between 55 and 60 years old was swimming with others at Tide Beach around 7 a.m. when he was attacked, according to a statement on the Solana Beach city Web site.

The man, whose identity was not immediately released, was taken to the Fletcher Cove Park lifeguard station for emergency treatment but was pronounced dead at the scene, the statement said.

Swimmers were ordered out of the water for a 17-mile stretch around the attack site and the county Sheriff's Department sent up helicopters to scan the waters for the shark.

It was unknown what kind of shark was involved.

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The Sheriff's Department reports one man is dead in an apparent shark attack near Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach. More details when we get them.

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A Coast Guard helicopter is being sent to assist Solana Beach officials after a fatal shark attack was reported there this morning. A man was killed in the apparent attack, officials said.

The HH-60 helicopter crew has been dispatched and is going up in support of lifeguards and other emergency crews.

"It is not an active search-and-rescue," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Clinton Dotson. "We will help clear the area ... and see if we can spot the culprit."