Woman killed in suspected US shark attack

A woman has been killed in an apparent shark attack as she swam near a pier on the Californian coast, officials said today.

Eyewitness accounts and the nature of her injuries were all consistent with a shark attack, Department of Fish and Game spokeswoman Chamois Andersen said.

Witnesses said one bite on the woman’s body was a foot wide.

The woman, believed to be in her 50s, was swimming about 75 yards out in a full wetsuit and fins when she was attacked, possibly after being mistaken for a seal, Andersen said.

“Her friend on the beach noticed she was swimming with some seals,” she said. “All of a sudden, the seals dispersed rapidly and a large breach of water, this large upwelling of water, occurred in the vicinity of where the woman was swimming. Very indicative of a shark attack.”

One person who called the emergency services told a dispatcher they saw “a large fin in the water” and that “something” attacked the woman twice.

The friend screamed for help from lifeguards, who were training nearby. They recovered the body.

“A bunch of local lifeguards come out and dragged her in and she was bleeding. It was bad,” said eyewitness David Abbott, his voice cracking.

If confirmed as a shark attack, it would be the first such fatal assault in Californian waters since 1994, officials said.

Robert Lea, a marine biologist for the state, said the attack was consistent with the behaviour of a great white shark, a notorious “ambush predator” that strikes from beneath.

“On the surface, she is going to be silhouetted, looking like a marine mammal,” Lea said.

The beach, about 200 miles north-west of Los Angeles, was closed by the port authority.