Shark Bites SUP Board of 15 Year Old Girl

CATALINA ISLAND, California -  Sunday morning just off the coast of Santa Catalina Island about 200 yards from the shore and 1 mile from Avalon, a 15 year old girl was enjoying some time on a stand up paddle board with a group of people when her board was bitten several times by a shark. The girl escaped unharmed but most can only imagine what she must have experienced.

The Los Angeles County Fire department is in charge of patrolling Catalina Island and suggested that the bite marks on the SUP board make it seem as though the shark was curious.  Certainly it could have done a lot more damage had it really been after more.

It is interesting to note that according to the Shark Research Committee, a non-profit scientific research organization, "From 1900 to the present there have been 163 authenticated unprovoked shark attacks reported from the Pacific Coast of North America. The breakdown by state is; Washington 1, Oregon 20, and California 142. There have been 11 fatal shark attacks reported from California over the past 60 years. The White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, was either positively identified or highly suspect in all 12 fatalities. The White Shark was implicated in 120 (85%) of the 142 attacks reported from California."

In the case of this past Sunday, however, there is no positive identification as to the type of shark that bit the stand up paddle board.  What is known is that the the bites were measured to be 20" long and the shark is estimated to have been about 17 feet.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department, in a recent press release, reminded all that the occurrence of shark attacks are extremely rare but that they will continue to take precaution by patrolling with lifeguard rescue boats and by keeping an extra watch on shark activity.  People in the area have also been notified and warned to be cautious.

How nervous are you about a possible shark attack while out on the water?

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