Once bitten….
On Saturday, 54-year-old Los Osos (“the bears”) resident, Elinor Dempsey “…was surfing at Morro Strand State Beach, just north of Morro Bay, around 10 a.m. when a shark swam under her board and chomped on it, leaving an approximately 14-inch wide bite mark.” Dempsey pushed her board at the shark while jumping off! She was uninjured!
Some surfers helped Dempsey get back on her board and get to shore, while other surfers were warning everyone to get out of the water!
Officials closed the beach for 72 hours and posted warning signs at nearby beaches, said the beach’s supervising ranger, Lisa Remington.
Experts will analyze the bite mark and teeth pattern to determine the size of the shark.
A U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist who happened to be in the area and examined the board estimated that the shark was a 6-foot-long adult male.
Dempsey told the San Luis Obispo Tribune that she was shaken from her encounter with the Great White.
“I’ll be staying close in from now on,” she said. “I’ll probably be on my boogie board for a little while.”
I don’t blame her.
-Bill at
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