Great white shark bites 38-year-old snorkeler at California beach, rescuers say

A six- to eight-foot-long great white shark bit a Gray Whale Cove State Beach snorkeler on the leg Saturday morning, seriously injuring the 38-year-old man, California rescuers say.

“A great white just took one bite out of him and released him,” Brian Ham, a battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told KNTV.

The man caught a glimpse of the shark, identifying it as a young great white, then swam to shore following the 9:15 a.m. attack, KGO reported.

“I heard a guy, kind of over this shoulder, just holler for me,” said Thomas Masotta, who had been fishing on the beach, KNTV reported. “And I looked over at him, he was waving me, and he just collapsed down to the ground.”

Masotta helped improvise a tourniquet for the man’s injured right leg from his fishing gear until firefighters arrived, he told the station.

The man, who rescuers originally described as a surfer, later said he was snorkeling for crabs at the time of the attack.

Rescuers carried the injured snorkeler, who lost about a pint of blood, up a steep stairway from the San Mateo County beach south of San Francisco, KGO reported. Fog prevented a helicopter from landing.

The man was taken to a San Francisco hospital in serious condition, CalFire reported on Twitter.

“I’ve seen ‘Jaws.’” said beachgoer Marcel Madison of Sacramento, KGO reported. “I know what they can do. It’s crazy.”

The beach was closed following the attack, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department reported on Twitter.

Gray Whale Cove State Beach lies about 18 miles south of San Francisco between Pacifica and Montara.

This story was originally published June 27, 2021 at 6:52 AM with the headline "Great white shark bites 38-year-old snorkeler at California beach, rescuers say."