“A veteran lifeguard says he saw bite marks on her torso, ” she said.
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A hammerhead shark like the one that was spotted late previous year that resulted in the closure of Orange County waters.
The woman’s condition was not immediately available, but she was conscious when she went to a hospital, Finnegan said.
Across the country that same day, a 13-year-old boy was bitten on the calf by a almost 6-foot-long shark while he was wading in waist-high water in Neptune Beach, Fla., which is about 17 miles east of Jacksonville. This may also result in shark warning signs being posted on the beaches.
The stretch of beach from Balboa Pier south to Crystal Cove remains closed today after a woman was allegedly bitten by a shark on Sunday afternoon off coast of Corona Del Mar in Newport Beach.
Authorities told the O.C. Register, the area where the suspected attack took place is a popular spot for long-distance ocean swimmers that’s closed off to boats, so a boat or watercraft-caused injury was ruled out by lifeguards.
She was bitten while swimming about 100 yards offshore, just outside buoys marking a protected swimming area near where boats travel.
Last weekend an 11-year-old girl was bitten by a shark at Huguenot Park, which is not far from Neptune. There had not been any recent reports of sharks in the area.
A lifeguard tower called in the incident, and the boy was rushed to the hospital with a gash on his calf and shin.
George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida, said shark attacks are expected to reach an all-time high this year, according to Reuters.
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Officials couldn’t confirm whether it was actually a shark that bit the woman since they didn’t locate a shark in the water when the attack happened.
