Surfer escapes injury after shark bumps him off board in California. ‘I’m so lucky’

Surfer Evan Garcia says he had a narrow escape when a young shark bumped him off his surfboard at a Southern California beach.

“When that thing hit me from below, I knew right away that it was a shark,” Garcia told KTTV about the encounter Sunday, May 26. “And I’m so lucky that it only got my board.”

San Clemente officials closed ocean access at all city beaches for 24 hours following the incident, a notice said. Access reopened at 8 p.m. Monday, May 27.

Another beach-goer also reported seeing a dark shape in the water, possibly a shark, prompting the closure for “aggressive” shark behavior, KNBC reported.

Authorities sent up drones to watch for sharks, the station said.

Garcia told KTTV he was knocked off his 7-foot surfboard, which had bite marks, and spotted the 4- to 6-foot-long shark while underwater.

He got out of the water and reported the encounter to lifeguards, KABC reported.

San Clemente is about a 60-mile drive northwest from San Diego.

What to know about shark attacks

Shark attacks are “extremely rare,” according to John Carlson of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“You have a better chance of getting in a car accident and being injured on your way to the beach than you do actually when you get to go swimming,” he said in a video posted to NOAA’s website.

In 2023, the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File investigated 120 shark-human interactions worldwide. Of those interactions, 69 were unprovoked shark bites, and there were 14 “shark-related fatalities.”

If you see a shark in the water, however, don’t panic, Richard Peirce, former chair of the Shark Trust and Shark Conservation Society, told CNN.

“Don’t start splashing around – you’re just going to excite, incite and encourage the shark’s interest,” he told the news outlet.

Instead, maintain eye contact with the shark and read its body language. If the shark appears to be in “attack mode,” you should make yourself as large as possible, CNN reported. If it seems to just be swimming by, try to stay small.

If the shark attacks, experts told CNN you shouldn’t play dead.

“You must try and keep the animal in sight and very slowly and gently try and swim backwards and get into shallow water,” Peirce told CNN. “Again, you’ve got to be careful – large sharks can attack in very shallow depths.”

This story was originally published May 28, 2024 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Surfer escapes injury after shark bumps him off board in California. ‘I’m so lucky’."