SoCal Shark Attack Prompts Memorial Day Beach Closure

A woman was hospitalized over the weekend after being attacked by a shark off Corona del Mar in Southern California. 

The stretch of beach in Orange County was closed following the shark attack on Sunday afternoon and continued to be closed to beach-goers through the rest of the Memorial Day weekend. 

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The woman, who has not been identified, reportedly suffered multiple bite marks to her torso area while swimming about 100 feet out. And though she was wearing a wet suit, her wounds were severe and she was recovering at a hospital, according to the OC Register.

Life guards began patrolling the beach and surveying the waters from overhead using a helicopter, but did not locate any more sharks.

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Meanwhile, on the east coast, another swimmer suffered a shark attack, this time a 13-year-old boy in Florida suffered two severe lacerations, potentially clear to the bone, according to ABC News.

The boy was reportedly wading in about 2.5 feet of water when a shark about 5.5 feet long bit his lower right leg. 

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The shark attack incidents over the holiday weekend, illustrate how a shark population that’s growing closer to shore and an increased number of swimmers creates a confluence of circumstances that can lead to more shark attacks. 

Last year there were nearly 100 shark attacks, five of them fatally, in the United States. 

© Elizabeth Hoffmann | Dreamstime.com – Great white shark