California Surfer Survived a Shark Attack After Great White Shark Bit Him
Warning signs for shark sightings remain in Long Beach, California, on May 16, 2017, where Great White sharks and their pups have been sighted regularly off southern California beaches. The increase in shark sightings around the start of summer is similar to the influx seen in 2016. Marine safety officials attribute the activity to the thriving aquatic ecosystem in the area. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

A 30-year-old California surfer has survived a shark attack this weekend about 70 miles north of San Francisco. He has not been publicly identified but it was reported that he was bitten in the thigh.

Bodega Bay Fire Protection District Capt. David Bynum said that the surfer's condition was unknown on Monday, but he was conscious when he was airlifted and is expected to survive, according to an NBC News report.

Bynum said that the surfer was first helped to shore by surfers who applied a tourniquet to his thigh with surfboard leashes. It was later replaced with another bystander with a manufactured tourniquet. Bynum said that first responders had arrived within minutes and continued to treat the surfer.

The fire protection captain said that the surfer was airlifted to a hospital by the California Highway Patrol.

The injured surfer has suffered a serious leg injury, including arterial damage, according to a CBS News report.

The attack had prompted officials to close the park district to the public.

Shark Attack Incident

The victim's friend, Jared Davis, was with the injured surfer out on the water and described the encounter with the shark.

Davis said his friend left his view for a moment when a wave hit. When his friend resurfaced, he also saw something else in the water.

Davis said that he both saw the dorsal fin and tail fin of the shark. He said that it was going under the water, according to a KTVU report.

He added that it was not a quick attack, more like it was nice and slow. Davis said it was kind of like a dolphin peaking.

Davis said that he saw his friend's leg and it looked like he had a red stripe on his wet suit, but it was actually blood.

NBC News reported that Bynum said that a great white shark is believed to be the culprit, but that was unknown at first.

CBS News reported that the surfboard showed the evidence of the shark attack with a wide arc of teeth marks, which had indicated the size of the shark.

Paramedic Jonathon Bauer had asked the victim if he did get a chance to see it, which the victim replied that he had seen it and it was a pretty large shark

Bauer added that the victim also said that he had a struggle with it as well.

Shark Attacks in California

The state had recorded 76 documented shark attacks that had resulted in injuries since 1950, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

The state had recorded one fatal shark attack in California in the 2020s; two in the 2010s; and three in the 2000s.

There was also one fatal shark attack in the 1990s and three in the 1980s.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife says that scientists consider Southern California a nursery ground for white sharks, adding that pregnant sharks likely give birth in relatively calm and warmer waters offshore.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Shark Attack: Jared Davies describes his friend and fellow surfer Eric being attacked by large shark - from KPIX CBS SF Bay Area