"Shark Attack Survivors News Archive"

04/25/2008 David Martin (California) ***Fatal***

Worldwide Reported Shark Attack Related Incidents in 2008.
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Re: 04/25/2008 Male (California) ***Fatal***

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Triathlete Killed By Shark While Swimming Off Solana Beach

POSTED: 9:11 am PDT April 25, 2008
UPDATED: 10:38 am PDT April 25, 2008


SAN DIEGO -- A swimmer was killed by a shark in the water off Solana Beach, north of San Diego, on Friday morning, lifeguards reported. The shark attack was reported about 7:20 a.m.

The attack happened near Fletcher Cove in an area known as Table Tops, lifeguards said.

A group of nine swimmers entered the water near Fletcher Cove at about 6:30 a.m. for their daily ocean swim, according to witnesses. They swam northward. While they were swimming, a 66-year-old man was bitten on both thighs, the spokesman for the San Diego County Sheriff's Department 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 family was notified, but his identity was not immediately released.

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

Previous Stories:
April 14, 2008: Bay Area Newlywed Dies On Diving Adventure
March 28, 2008: OC Lifeguards Say Shark Story Hoax, Expert Disagrees
March 20, 2008: Released Monterey Aquarium Shark Gets To Baja In Record Time
February 22, 2008: Wallet Found Inside Shark Caught In Monterey Bay
August 29, 2007: Surfer Punches Shark During Attack In Monterey Bay
August 28, 2007: Shark Attacks Surfer In Monterey Bay
July 24, 2007: Shark Leaves Teeth Marks On Concord Man's Kayak
July 11, 2007: Shark Scooped From Long Beach's Marina Pacifica Harbor
May 9, 2007: Central California Woman Survives Shark Attack In Hawaii
December 11, 2006: NorCal Surfer Survives Shark Attack With Minor Injuries
September 18, 2006: 'Walking' Shark Among Discoveries Off Island
August 31, 2006: 'Fear And Adrenaline': Oregon Surfer Attacked By Shark

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Re: 04/25/2008 David Martin (California) ***Fatal***

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Solana Beach Man Remembered One Year After Fatal Shark Attack

April 25, 2009 08:36 PM

April 25, 2009 09:30 PM
Video Gallery
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Solana Beach Man Remembered One Year After Fatal Shark Attack
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Saturday marks the one year anniversary of the death of a Solana Beach man in a shark attack near Fletcher Cove.

Dr. Dave Martin, 66, was swimming with his triathlon club when he was attacked by what was believed to be a 16-foot great white shark.

On Saturday, Martin's friends went for a swim in those same waters to celebrate his life.

Martin's friends and loved ones left flowers and messages at the beach in his memory.


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Re: 04/25/2008 David Martin (California) ***Fatal***

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Dave Martin sonShark attack victim died among friends

Dave Martin’s children say retired veterinarian was doing what he loved
Dave Martin Son
Dave Martin Son
dave_martin_son.jpg (6.51 KiB) Viewed 42894 times

Shark victim’s children speak out
April 28: Triathlete Dr. Dave Martin was tragically killed April 25 in an attack by what may have been a great white shark. From San Diego, his children speak to Meredith Vieira about his life.
Today show

By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 9:53 a.m. ET, Mon., April. 28, 2008
The great sadness that the children of Dave Martin feel at the death of their father during a shark attack while swimming is tempered by the knowledge that he died among friends in a place that he loved.

“Every one of us is going to face our mortality one day,” Jeff Martin told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira on Monday, three days after his father was fatally bitten during a training swim with eight fellow members of the Triathlon Club of San Diego. “The fact he died doing what he loved to do in a place he loved surrounded by friends — if you could choose the way you’re going to go, those things would be high on your list.”

Marine biologists theorize that Martin was hit by an adult great white shark that would have been 12 to 17 feet long. The retired 66-year-old veterinarian was wearing a black wet suit, and experts believe the shark could have mistaken him for a seal.

Martin was thrown out of the water by the force of the attack, which left a single gash across both thighs. He screamed for help, and fellow club members brought him to the shore, where paramedics and lifeguards were unable to save him from bleeding to death.

“I’m thankful that it wasn’t a long, drawn-out process,” said Kevin, 41, the eldest of Martin’s four children. “We’re sad that he was taken away from us so quickly. We didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. We weren’t ready for him to go. But I’m glad that it was quick and relatively painless.”

Like his father, Kevin Martin loves the waters at Fletcher’s Cove north of San Diego, just a block from the family home. A surfer, Kevin ignored an advisory that swimmers stay out of the waters along a 17-mile section of San Diego shore for three days after the attack. On Saturday, he went surfing in the same waters in which his father had died one day earlier.

“Surfers can tell you — getting in the water — there’s something that’s just relaxing, something that kind of soothes you,” he told Vieira. “It’s where we like to be and doing what we like to do, and in a way it was a way for me to say, ‘I love you, Dad. I miss you.’ I kind of felt I could be with him.”

Hannah Martin is the youngest of the family and spent many days growing up swimming at Fletcher’s Cove.

“I’ve been swimming here ever since I can remember,” she said. “We never, ever in a million years thought something like this would happen.”
Martin family via AP
Dave Martin Fatal Shark Attack Victim
Dave Martin Fatal Shark Attack Victim
dave_martin.jpg (10.21 KiB) Viewed 42891 times
Dave Martin died Friday April 25, 2008, after being bitten by a shark off Solana Beach, Calif., near San Diego.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


“I guarantee the last thing in his mind — in anyone’s mind — was something like that happening,” added her brother, Kevin, 26. “It caught us completely off guard.”

The three siblings — the fourth of Dave Martin’s children, Ben, 21, did not join the interview — said that their father had joked about sharks from time to time, as most swimmers do, but was more concerned about the cold water temperatures than about shark attacks. His death was the first attributed to a shark in San Diego waters since 1994 and the second in 40 years. Worldwide, there were 71 reported shark attacks in all of last year, most of them nonfatal.

Dave Martin had come to the area in 1970 to work in a veterinary clinic and was a well-liked and respected community leader. He took up triathlons four or five years ago and went for a one-mile training swim with fellow club members every Friday. Jeff had also taken up the sport to spend more time with his dad. The two had planned to take part in the annual “Escape from Alcatraz” swim in San Francisco later this year.

Dave Martin also had a stepson and four grandchildren.

“We really appreciate as a family the positive light the media is putting on him,” Kevin Martin told Vieira. “We want him to be remembered as the great, loving family man that he was, and we all love him very much and we miss him very much.”

“He was an amazing person,” added Hannah Martin. “He was the rock of our family. He taught me so many lessons. I’m just glad that I got to spend 18 years looking up to him.”


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Re: 04/25/2008 David Martin (California) ***Fatal***

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Family of shark victim: 'He died doing what he liked'

By Angelica Martinez
UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

April 27, 2008

SOLANA BEACH – The family of the retired veterinarian killed in a shark attack spoke publicly for the first time at a news conference Sunday.
Jeff Martin said his father, David, “died doing what he liked, surrounded by friends, in a place he loved. Even through our grief, this gives us an inner peace.”

Beach warnings in effect after shark kills triathlete


Martin was surrounded by about a dozen relatives, who stood silently and held sunflowers, which they later placed on a fence facing the beach.

“As a Christian family, we believe that our dad is in heaven and that we will see him again some day,” Martin said. “We appreciate your continued prayers and support.”

David Martin, 66, a longtime Solana Beach resident, was killed shortly after 7 a.m. Friday in Fletcher Cove while taking a training swim with eight members of the Triathlon Club of San Diego.


The county Medical Examiner's Office conducted an autopsy Saturday and determined that Martin died from blood loss due to shark bites on his legs.
The wounds indicate it was a 12- to 16-foot great white shark, said Ralph Collier, a shark expert with the Los Angeles-based Shark Research Committee, who was present during the autopsy.

Authorities issued an unprecedented warning for the public to avoid entering the ocean along eight miles of coastline from the northern part of Torrey Pines State Beach to South Carlsbad State Beach following the attack. The advisory was to remain in effect until 7 a.m. Monday despite the weekend heat wave.

Solana Beach Lifeguard Captain Craig Miller said the attack “has affected the beach population immensely.” Typically, on a hot day, lifeguards would see thousands of people swimming, Miller said.

Sunday, there were a few dozen, most of whom heeded the warning and stayed out of the water. Because it was an advisory, lifeguards said they could not stop anyone from entering the water.

On Saturday, dozens of surfers ignored the warning and went in. Among them was Jeff Martin.

“I'm taking my boys out tomorrow, if it's open,” he said, adding that is what his father would have wanted him to do.

Martin said his father was offered a job as a veterinarian in Solana Beach in 1970. Instead of showing him the animal hospital where he would work, his business partner took him to the bluff overlooking Table Top Reef.

“Our dad fell in love and he moved our family here within a week,” Martin said. His father's death, he said, has been especially hard because of where it happened – at the beach where his family often went.

About two dozen people visited Fletcher Cove Sunday afternoon. Some laid flowers in the grass near the playground.

Tina Maycock, 39, of La Verne in Los Angeles County, and her 5-year-old son, Jack, were among those who dropped off flowers.

Maycock said she has visited Solana Beach for 20 years.

“It's so shocking,” she said. “You'd never, ever, in a million years, expect that to happen here.”

Nearly all white shark attacks on humans are “cases of mistaken identity,” said Richard Rosenblatt, a professor emeritus of marine biology at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla. White sharks prefer the blubbery flesh of marine mammals. Martin was wearing a full, black wet suit.

Martin had deep, jagged lacerations from his upper thighs to the lower shins, with a bite radius of about 22 inches.

The last fatal shark attack in California, according to data from the state Department of Fish and Game, took place Aug. 15, 2004, off Mendocino County. The victim was a man diving for shellfish with a friend.

Overall, shark attacks are extremely rare. There were 71 reported worldwide last year, up from 63 in 2006.



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Re: 04/25/2008 David Martin (California) ***Fatal***

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Veteran triathlete killed by shark off Fletcher Cove

By Karen Kucher and Debbi Farr Baker
UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

and Terry Rodgers and Angela Lau
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS

2:26 p.m. April 25, 2008
Lifeguards try to Revive Shark Attack Victim David Martin
Lifeguards try to Revive Shark Attack Victim David Martin
dave_martin_rescuers.jpg (8.83 KiB) Viewed 42895 times
Dave Martin, 66, may have been killed Friday by a great white shark, authorities said. Some facts about the species:
Status: Largest predatory fish on Earth.

Features: Slate-gray upper body blends in with rocky coastal sea floor. It gets its name from the white underbelly.

Diet: Carnivore.

Size: 15 to more than 20 feet.

Weight: 5,000 pounds or more.

Speed: Powerful tail can help it travel up to 15 miles per hour.

Senses: A great white shark can detect one drop of blood in 25 gallons of water and can track even tiny amounts of blood in water up to 3 miles away.

Attacks: Of the 100 plus shark attacks worldwide each year, about one-third to half are attributed to great whites. Most of the attacks are not fatal.

Population: No firm numbers. Scientists agree their number are dropping because of factors such as overfishing and being caught accidentally in gill nets. Great whites are federally protected.

Locally: No resident population of great whites in San Diego County, but some travel south from Los Angeles to give birth.


SOURCE: National Geographic

SOLANA BEACH – A retired veterinarian who was swimming with members of a triathlon club was killed Friday morning in a shark attack north of Fletcher Cove.
A marine expert said the wounds appeared to be from a great white shark, an attack he described as “practically unprecedented” in the area.

The victim, 66-year-old David Martin of Solana Beach, a member of the Triathlon Club of San Diego and a father of four, was attacked shortly after 7 a.m. as he was swimming about 150 yards offshore in water 20 to 30 feet deep, officials said.

Richard H. Rosenblatt, a professor emeritus of marine biology at Scripps Institution of Oceanography who examined Martin's body, said he believed the shark was a great white between 12- and 17-feet-long.

Rosenblatt said witnesses reported that Martin “was thrust vertically up out of the water, and that sounds like what white sharks do when they attack a seal.”

Rosenblatt said the shark likely thought the swimmer was a seal, and that almost all attacks by white sharks on swimmers are cases of mistaken identity.

Encinitas Lifeguard Lt. Paul Chapman said Martin had deep jagged lacerations on his upper thighs to the lower shin, with a bite radius of about 22 inches.

Rosenblatt called the marks “the kind of slicing wounds that you would expect from a white shark.” He described an attack as a “tremendous powerful rush followed by a powerful bite.”

“That is just typical of the white shark feeding behavior. They normally feed on seals and attack from below and ... bite, then pull away and wait for the seal or other marine mammal to bleed to death.”

Solana Beach Deputy Fire Chief Dismas Abelman said Martin was pulled out of the water by fellow triathlon club members and placed in the back of a lifeguard truck. A helicopter was called, but Martin was pronounced dead at the lifeguard station.

“It just doesn't happen. A shark attack is unheard of (here),” Abelman said.

Miller said witnesses told lifeguards that a “big gray shark” attacked Martin.

Martin was swimming with about 10 others from the triathlon group, heading north from Fletcher Cove, near Tide Park, when the attack occurred. All the swimmers were wearing wet suits.

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

The swimmers who were with Martin were taken to a community center to be debriefed, officials said. They declined to speak to reporters.

Officials immediately closed beaches in Solana Beach, Del Mar and Encinitas after the attack. Later, several state beaches were closed through Sunday, including Tide Park, Seaside, North Cardiff, San Elijo, and South Carlsbad. Carlsbad State Beach north of Palomar Airport Road was open.


Following the attack, lifeguards in two vehicles were patrolling Solana Beach's 1.7 miles of coastline and a sheriff's helicopter flew overhead, telling people to stay out of the water. The helicopter would fly over the area until 6 p.m. Friday, then resume at 8 a.m. Saturday, authorities said.
A Coast Guard helicopter also 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.

Miller said that if swimmers ignore the ban, sheriff's deputies would be called to enforce the order.

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 stay out of the water, but added, “We don't want people to panic.”

In Encinitas, 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,” lifeguard Chapman said. “A couple people have chosen to go in the water and surf at Swami's and at Beacons, against our advice.”

Later in the day, more surfers disregarded warnings and were seen in the water.

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.

Rosenblatt, the Scripps scientist, said there isn't a resident population of white sharks off San Diego County, but female sharks come from the north to give birth. White sharks swim great distances and have been known to be tagged in Monterey in northern California and then turn up in Hawaii, he said.

“The chances of finding this particular shark are very slim,” Rosenblatt said.

Still, as Chapman said, “It's better to stay out of the water and give it time.”

Chapman said a baby white shark was found at a nearby lagoon two weeks ago.

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.

Steven Elbogen, who has been surfing off Ocean Beach for 33 years, said the fatality will not keep him out of the water.

“First off, I'm sorry to see someone perish,” he said. “But I hope it scares everyone out of the water and I'll be surfing alone.”

Remarking that it's been 14 years since a person was attacked by a shark in San Diego County, Elbogen added, 'That's 14 years and 10,000,000 waves later. Those are good odds. I'll take 'em.' Volker Hoehne, president of the San Diego Free Divers, said there have been increased shark sightings off San Diego County. He said members of the club reported seeing two great whites under water off Oceanside last week.

According to Hoehne, there was an increase in shark attacks on seals last summer. He said one diver photographed a shark eating the remains of a seal near Children's Pool off La Jolla. “We don't report these things because they happen so often,' Hoehne said. Hoehne said he dives about twice a week to spearfish and that he's not afraid of shark attacks. But after hearing about Friday's attack, he plans to move his diving to Orange County. “I'm not going in the water (here) for a little while. (Great whites), they're mammal eaters.”

The last time a shark was confirmed to have bitten 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 2 miles to the south, near the surfing area known as Garbage Reef.

Local investigators determined she drowned after being bitten by a great white shark, but state Fish & Game investigators said it couldn't be determined which happened first.

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 swimsuit. 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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Re: 04/25/2008 David Martin (California) ***Fatal***

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Beaches closed after fatal shark attack in North County

Authorities near San Diego say a shark on Friday attacked and killed a swimmer who was training in the ocean off San Diego County with a group of triathlete.

SOLANA BEACH – Several North County beaches were closed Friday morning after a man was killed in a shark attack north of Fletcher Cove, officials said.
Dave Martin, 66, was attacked as he was swimming about 150 yards offshore shortly after 7 a.m., officials said.

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

Witnesses told lifeguards that a “big gray shark” attacked Martin, biting both his legs, said Solana Beach Marine Safety Capt. Craig Miller.

Martin was swimming with a group of about 10 others, heading north from Fletcher Cove, near Tide Park, when the attack occurred. The group regularly swims in the area. 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 him 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.”



AdvertisementChapman 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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04/25/2008 David Martin (California) ***Fatal***

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Beach Closed After Man Dies In Shark Attack

POSTED: 9:08 am PDT April 25, 2008
UPDATED: 10:32 am PDT April 25, 2008


SAN DIEGO -- A shark attack on a man was reported at Solana Beach Friday by San Diego County Sheriff's Department. The man died at the scene, sheriff's officials reported.


A witness who was part of a Friday swim group the man was with at the time told 10News of seeing a swimmer bitten by a shark below both knees. The attack took place about 150 yards offshore and several swimmers wearing wetsuits were in a group when the shark attacked, Solana Beach lifeguard Craig Miller said.

Miller said two swimmers were about 20 yards ahead of the man when they heard him scream for help. A witness told 10News that someone yelled "shark".

The swimmmers turned around and dragged him back to shore. He was declared dead at 7:49 a.m., Miller said.

The waters off the beach are now closed from Del Mar to Carlsbad. The beaches remain open.

Medical responders have been called to the scene to retrieve the body which is at the Fletcher Cove Park lifeguard station.

A sheriff's department Astria helicopter was sent to scan for sharks in the water.

"The shark is still in the area. We're sure of that," Mayor Joe Kellejian said.

Miller said the beaches could remain closed for 72 hours.

A specialist from Scripps Institute of Oceanography has been asked to determine what type of shark attacked the man.

It was unknown what kind of shark was involved.

Solana Beach is 14 miles northwest of San Diego.

The last fatal shark attack in California, according to data from the state Department of Fish and Game, took place on Aug. 15, 2004, in Mendocino County at Kibesillah Rock. A man who was skin diving for abalone was bitten by a white shark.

Overall, shark attacks are extremely rare. There were 71 reported worldwide last year, up from 63 in 2006. Only one attack, in the South Pacific, was fatal, according to the University of Florida.

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