A shark reportedly took a bite out of paddleboard while the paddler was crusing with his dog near Lovers Point in Pacific Grove, California, making for the second shark incident this summer. The attack reportedly happened at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“I don’t think he was trying to hit the board, he was trying to hit the head of a sea lion or whatever he thought it was,” says paddler David Stickler. He says the shark’s tail is what knocked he and his German shepherd off the board.
According to witnesses, the shark was about the size of a kayak. “It shook the board and [the shark] got them off the board,” said witness Kensington Sampson Edward. “He had to call the boat over to help him and get his oar back to him because it was about 30 feet away and then he paddled back.”
It’s been a crazy summer in Pacific Grove as far as shark activity. In June, another apex predator estimated to be in the 20-foot range attacked open-water swimmer Steve Breummer, who was training for a triathlon. The shark severely injured his leg, arms, and stomach. Bruemmer survived the attack with the help of nearby surfers and paddleboarders that helped him in. Experts later released information on the shark’s size based off Bruemmer’s bites – bites surgeons spent hours working on.
The beach was immediately closed by authorities after the incident Wednesday.
