Lengthy-distance swimmer bitten by shark off California coast

A person was bitten by a shark throughout a preferred long-distance channel swim from Catalina Island to the mainland early Tuesday morning.

The 50 to 55-year-old swimmer was about 12 miles off Catalina Island when the incident was reported to the Los Angeles Fire Department round 1:30 a.m.

“It sounded like about a three to four-foot white shark just nipped at his leg and his foot and then took off,” LAFD Fireboat Pilot Shaun Corby advised KTLA.

Crewmembers aboard the swimmer’s tempo boat referred to as within the incident, which occurred about midway between the island and the mainland.

The unidentified swimmer had already acquired some therapy aboard the boat when the Fire Department arrived.

“He had minor wounds to his leg, and they were already wrapped up,” Corby mentioned. “We just grabbed the victim and transported him back to our station, and transported him to the hospital.”

Completing the 20-mile Catalina Channel is certainly one of three prestigious accomplishments often called the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming. The different two challenges embody swimming throughout the English Channel and round Manhattan Island.

Corby added that being bitten by a shark on this a part of the ocean is “super rare.”