(Trends Wide) — The closure comes after a woman was bitten by a shark near famous Del Mar Beach in Southern California on Friday morning, the chief lifeguard told Trends Wide.
The 50-year-old woman was bitten on her right thigh around 10 a.m. PT at Del Mar Beach, located 30 minutes from San Diego, Del Mar Beach Director of Community Services and Chief Lifeguard Jon Edelbrock said.
She was treated for punctures and lacerations and sent to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla in stable condition, according to Edelbrock.
Credit: KFMB
The beach is expected to be closed for 48 hours, Edelbrock said, with the reopening taking place around 12 pm (Miami time) on Sunday.
Edelbrock said the woman was swimming past the surf line, an area frequented by recreational swimmers. A lifeguard on duty saw the woman and another swimmer with “a strange stroke on her back,” Edelbrock said. The other swimmer began waving his arms and lifeguards rushed to help, she said.
Credit: KFMB
There has never been a shark bite at this beach and it is only the fourth such incident to occur in the county in 15 years, Edelbrock said.
In 2021, there were only 73 confirmed unprovoked shark bites in people, according to data from the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.
