SAN DIEGO– A swimmer was seriously injured in a shark attack on the Southern California coast on Sunday, prompting temporary beach closures, authorities said.
The attack happened Sunday morning at Del Mar City Beach in Del Mar, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of San Diego, local officials said.
The 46-year-old man, an ocean swimmer who regularly trains on the beach, suffered significant but non-life-threatening injuries. He was taken to a hospital for treatment, city officials said.
The attack occurred about 300 feet (91 meters) from a lifeguard station. The swimmer was bitten on the torso, left arm and hand.
Authorities said the beach will remain closed to surfers and swimmers until Tuesday morning.
The man was attacked while swimming with about a dozen other people, said Jonathan Edelbrock, chief lifeguard and community services director. Lifeguards were setting up on the beach that day when they were notified of the situation.
No one had seen the shark when the attack occurred, Edelbrock said. The city also deployed a drone and a boat to search for the shark without success.
“The visibility of the water was really poor,” he said. “You just don’t see anything moving through the water column. The exact moment of the incident was actually the only interaction with or sighting of the shark.”
There was another swimmer attacked by a shark in November 2022 on the coast of Del Mar, where she was bitten on the thigh. A popular beach in San Clemente, 40 miles north of Del Mar, also closed last week for the Memorial Day holiday a shark knocked a surfer off his board.