A graduate student at the University of California, Irvine, is recovering after being attacked by a Shark while spear-fishing in Monetary Bay on Friday 24 November 2017. Grigor Azatian, 25, who is studying computer science, was fishing with his father when he was attacked by the animal, believed to have been a Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, about three meters in length. The Shark bit him twice on the leg before apparently losing interest and retreating. He is being treated at the Natividad Medical Center for severe lacerations to the thigh and lower leg, but is expected to make a full recovery.
Computer science student and amateur fisherman Grigor Azatian, who was attacked by a Shark in Monetary Bay, California, on 24 November 2017. Armen Azatian/The Mercury News.
Despite their fearsome reputation, attacks by Sharks are relatively rare, with only 120 recorded off the coast of California in the 90 years since regular record-keeping began, eleven of these off Monetary County. Most attacks on Humans by Great White Sharks are thought to be mistakes. The species feeds principally on Marine Mammals, which we superficially resemble when we enter the water, gaining the majority of their nutrition from the thick adipose (fat) layers of these animals, which we lack. Due to this, when Great Whites do attack Humans these attacks are often broken off without the victim being consumed. Such attacks frequently result in severe injuries, but are seldom immediately fatal, with victims likely to survive if they receive immediate medical attention.
A Great White Shark off the coast of Isla Guadalupe, Mexico.
See also...
