Calif. Shark Bite Called Unusual

Sept. 05--A hammerhead shark bit a kayaker Saturday off a Ventura County beach that was full of visitors enjoying the Labor Day weekend. Although the injury appeared minor, experts said the incident was unusual.

While about 2 miles out from a beach at Pacific Coast Highway and Deer Creek Road, the Santa Monica man's right foot was bitten by a 10- to 12-foot hammerhead as he dangled it from a kayak that happened to be decorated with a cartoon sharklike mouth on front, according to companions.

Kyle Hudgins, 16, of Thousand Oaks, was fishing for yellowtail with the victim, who is in his 20s, when the attack occurred.

"These four hammerheads circled us," Hudgins said. "They're just so big."

Jim Milbury, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said it's unusual for a hammerhead to attack such large prey.

Chris Mobley, superintendent of the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary, seemed to agree.

"Like all sharks, they are not targeting humans but sometimes they do exploratory bites, which can do a lot of damage," Mobley said.

Mobley said it's unusual for hammerheads even to be seen in the area, but they've been reported by fishermen in the past few months. He said this may have something to do with atypically warm water off the West Coast that's been drawing other sea creatures closer to shore.

Dillon Brady, 34 of Santa Monica, who was with the two kayakers, said he didn't see the hammerheads but has noticed sharks in this area before.

"That's why you don't dangle your feet," Brady said.

Hudgins said that after the man he was bitten, he remained calm said, "Just call the ambulance and make sure they are there."

Crews with the Ventura County and Naval Base Ventura County fire departments responded about 2:40 p.m., along with state lifeguards and a county helicopter.

Rescue swimmers on surfboards guided the bite victim as he kayaked back to the beach, according to beachgoer Miguel Cortez, 35, of San Bernardino County.

After crews said the bleeding was under control, the helicopter took the victim to Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks.

Beachgoers Lucas Smarker, 21, of Camarillo, and Savanah Cole, 19, of Oxnard, said they didn't even realize something had gone wrong until they saw firetrucks. They were sitting near a staircase where medical crews were waiting for the man.

"He was fairly mobile" and looked calm, Smarker said of the man as he got out of the kayak.

"He took it like a man," Smarker said.

Cortez and fellow beachgoer Daniel Miranda, 21, also of San Bernardino County, said rescuers told them the man had been bitten by a shark but didn't tell them to stay out of the water. Cole, Smarker and others on the beach did not report getting a warning, either.

Saturday's shark bite wasn't the only recent clash in the region between humans and the creatures. A shark attacked a kayak Aug. 19 off the Gaviota coast in Santa Barbara County. Up the coast 10 days later, a surfer said a great white shark bit a chunk of her board near Morro Bay.

The unusually warm water cited as a possible factor in the hammerheads' appearance has also been blamed for a variety of other behavior by sea creatures, including baby great white sharks that have been closer to the local shore than residents remember seeing them in the past. Whites seem to be giving birth earlier than normal, experts said, and their young that normally would leave the coastal area after their first summer have been sticking around in winter.

In addition to the shark incident, other emergencies Saturday kept rescue crews busy at local beaches:

A man nearly drowned about 3 p.m. in the 2100 block of Mandalay Beach Road in Oxnard. It is thought that a wave knocked him down, then he hit his head on the sand and suffered spinal injuries, Oxnard Fire Department Battalion Chief John Colamarino said. The man's family found him conscious in the water but unable to call for help, Colamarino said. The man was taken to a hospital.

A person on a surfboard was reported in distress about 4:20 p.m. in the 5100 block of West Pacific Coast Highway in the Seacliff area north of Ventura. Ten minutes later, the person washed ashore and was reportedly OK.

At 5:08 p.m., there was a report of an injured person at Thornhill Broome State Beach off Pacific Coast Highway between Point Mugu and Malibu, not far from the shark incident. The nature of the injuries was not known.

Copyright 2015 - Ventura County Star, Calif.