Shark Attack on Catalina Island

Early Tuesday morning, a man in his fifties, who was a long-distance swimmer, was attacked by a shark near Catalina Island. The man was seen trying to swim from the island to the mainland by fire boat pilots. The people on the plane have said that the shark was about four feet long. Supposedly, while the man was trying to swim back to shore, he got bit by the shark. He was then ushered to the hospital immediately and only suffered from minor injuries from the shark bite. 

People in the area have stated that late night swims and long-distance swimmers are very common. But they were greatly surprised that there was a shark attack although it wasn’t brutal. It was still a shock to know that a shark had come and bit someone since this is a very rare occurrence. Some have even added that sharks usually just nip people due to curiosity of their surroundings. 

California is not a very common place to have sharks bite or even attack people. Only 89 shark bites have been recorded in the state of California between the years of 1959-2010. But due to that happening, it's been said that the more young sharks are, the more likely they are to emerge from the deep waters and actually bite humans. It likely explains why the shark was only four feet long, being so young that it was probably just hungry and ended up nipping the 50-year-old man.

Luckily, the man reported that he was okay and doing fine according to one of the other swimmers that was there during the event. He is said to only suffer from minor bites from the shark and a bit of distress from the situation.

Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.