Attack victim being carried through surf

This weekend, Steven Robles, 40, was swimming off Manhattan Beach in Southern California on Saturday morning when he was attacked by a juvenile 7′ long great white shark. He suffered a single bite wound on the right side of his rib cage and was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and then released to recover at home. If that was the entire story, it would be easy just to write it off as an another example of how dangerous great whites can be. The story ends up being a bit more complicated, however.

Robles had been swimming with a group of some 15 other swimmers, all training for an international contest, when he was attacked. The attack was not unprovoked. Unknown to Robles and his fellow swimmers, the shark had been hooked by a fisherman on the beach pier approximately 45 minutes before and was struggling to escape the fisherman’s line. As reported by the LA Times:

“He was trying to get off the line,” said Capt. Tracy Lizotte, a Los Angeles County lifeguard at the beach. “He was agitated and was probably biting everything in his way and then the swimmer swam right into the shark’s line.”

Lizotte said it’s not uncommon for sharks to swim in waters past the pier’s edge. “That’s where they live,” Lizotte said. “It’s their home.”

Video has emerged showing the fishermen laughing as the shark attacks the swimmer. They later said that they did not realize that the swimmer had been bitten. According to Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard Division’s spokesman Rick Flores, “The rules and regulations are, when a great white is hooked, as soon as you can identify it you’re supposed to cut your line.” The fisherman cut the line only after the shark attack.

Robles appears less angry with the shark than with the fisherman. He said that he is still shocked and frustrated by the fisherman’s actions.

Great White Shark Attack “CAUGHT on CAMERA”

Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to the post.