Updated June 29.
A California snorkeler is recovering after being bitten by a great white shark.
Nemanja Spasojevic, 38, was off Grey Whale Cove State Beach June 25. The avid waterman was diving for crabs when he spotted several on the ocean floor. He dove down and collected one, but realized the were not of legal size. He dove back down and replaced the crab. On his way back to the surface, he felt a pressure on his leg and looked to see a juvenile shark biting his upper right thigh.
Despite the serious injury, he was able to make it back to the fairly empty beach around 9:15 a.m. and alerted a fisherman.
Thomas Masotta had been fishing for about 15 minutes when he heard a bleeding man calling and said he had been attacked by a shark before collapsing. Spasojevic asked Masotta if he had anything to tie up his leg, and Masotta used the straps from his backpack to make a tourniquet and attempted to call authorities. Due to the remote location, the call would not go through until Masotta went to higher ground.
Firefighters and medics arrived about ten minutes later and administered advanced life saving measures. Spasojevic was then taken to San Fransisco General Hospital’s Trauma unit and released the same day.
A Cal Fire spokesman said it was a 6- to 8-foot shark that bit the wetsuit clad diver, who had a yellow collection bag once and then released its grip.
The approximate location has been marked on the 2021 Shark Attack Map.
Another white shark incident occurred about an hour south in 2017.
Grigor Azatian, 25, was spearfishing with his father off Pebble Beach Nov. 24 when a large white shark showed up. The avid waterman surfaced to warn his father of the shark. As he surfaced, the estimated 16- to 17-foot shark hit him from below and bit into his leg.
“It came from my right side, turned to the right and bit my right leg and, as it bit my right leg, turned me over onto my back. I was on my back while it was biting down and shaking me,” Azatian told Tracking Sharks in 2018.
He was able to make it back to the boat where his father applied a tourniquet and took him to the beach.
California has a large population of white sharks, but shark attacks are still rare with only a handful occurring every year.
The last fatal shark attack occurred in 2020.
Ben Kelly, 26, was around 100 yards (91m) off Sand Dollar Beach in Santa Cruz May 9 when a shark bit his right knee.
Kelly and a friend made it back to the beach and lifeguards were alerted. Despite a tourniquet being applied, Mr. Kelly died on the beach.
Article updated to correct Mr. Spasojevic was snorkeling instead of surfing.
