The marine predator responsible for a swimmer’s horrific injuries off the coast of San Diego has been revealed.
Experts at the California State University Long Beach Shark Lab analyzed DNA from the wetsuit Caleb Adams was wearing when he was attacked on June 2 and bite marks on the fabric.
They have since determined that Adams, 46, was bitten by a juvenile great white shark believed to be around nine feet long and between six and eight years old. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Fully grown great white sharks can grow up to 23 feet long and live between 45 and 70 years.
But it remains unclear what prompted the shark to attack Adams as he swam with more than a dozen people about 100 yards off the coast of Del Mar, California.
He suffered significant injuries to his torso, left arm and hand during the attack, with Photos obtained by the Today Show showing deep cuts on the upper body.
Adams suffered significant injuries to his torso, left arm and hand during the attack.
Adams has since described how he felt the shark grab him and his efforts to defend himself.
“I was wrestling with the animal for a few seconds,” he told the Today Show.
“The second time I hit the animal, I felt softer tissue. I assume it was in the shark’s mouth and I have several cuts on my hands and wrists.”
Friends and lifeguards said they heard Adams screaming and used surfboards to help him back to shore.
“We heard some screaming. You could tell it was a loud scream by the pitch of the screams,” said rescuer Kevin Barrett. ABC7.
“You have to be aware that you are swimming into an active shark attack and that it is scary,” he added.
“But there really is no other alternative, he is one of ours and we have to bring him in.”
When they swam to Adams, they saw that he was bleeding profusely.
“We didn’t know the extent of the injuries, but there was definitely a lot of blood in the water,” Barrett said.
Caleb Adams, 46, was attacked by a juvenile great white shark while swimming off the coast of Del Mar, California, last month.
Friends and rescuers have told how they found him bleeding profusely and rushed him back to shore.
Adams was then rushed to shore, where lifeguards and others gave him first aid, applying a tourniquet to stop the bleeding before loading him into an ambulance for surgery.
Throughout this process, one friend said, “Caleb was incredibly calm.”
He is now continuing to recover from his injuries and said he feels lucky to have survived.
“I think my injuries reflect that this was just a fraction of what the shark could have done, so I can consider myself really lucky,” Adams said. told CBS 8 San Diegoadding that now he only swims in a pool.
It remains unclear whether the shark that bit Adams may still be in the area, which experts say is a refuge for juvenile sharks.
Researchers have tagged about 40 sharks in the water between Del Mar/Solana Beach and Torrey Pines, where the predators can remain for weeks or months.
A lifeguard and his friend were part of the efforts to save Adams after realizing something was wrong.
Chris Lowe, director of Cal State Long Beach’s Shark Lab, said his team is now working to determine why sharks congregate at certain beaches, suggesting it could be that they like the water temperature, find abundant fish and rays in the area or can avoid predators by staying in shallow water.
“People should be aware that it’s an aggregation site and there are sharks there,” he told the Union-Tribune.
Lowe’s team will also analyze DNA from water samples taken after the June 2 attack to determine more about individual sharks in the area.
“We need to sequence all the DNA and then try to piece it together to see if we can identify (the shark) as an individual,” he said, noting that it could not be determined whether the shark that bit Adams was male or female.
Adams has since described how he felt the shark grab him and his efforts to defend himself.
Researchers could then use that DNA to try to build shark family trees, which could help scientists determine how many sharks there are in the water and how they might be related.
Shark attacks remain rare, as Lowe said they prefer to eat bottom-dwelling animals rather than humans.
“We’re definitely not on the menu, because if sharks liked to eat people, Southern California would be a Costco for sharks, right?” he told CBS 8.
“We just don’t see that.”
But last year, the United States saw a rise in uncaused shark attacks and deaths.
In 2023, 36 attacks were recorded across the country, accounting for more than half of all attacks worldwide.
It is unclear whether the shark that attacked Adams is still on shore.
Experts have told DailyMail.com thatSome believe the increase in shark attacks is due to a combination of a surplus of fish migrating to the coasts and environmental conditions, while others have said it is due to US efforts to Clean the ocean.
Many say U.S. conservation efforts to reduce ocean pollution have changed shark hunting behavior, bringing them closer to land-based waters that were previously unviable because they were so polluted.
In some states, such as New York, conservation efforts to clean up rivers that flow into the ocean have reduced the amount of polluted and dirty water reaching the sea, spurring a rebound in marine life.
“Seeing sharks in our local ecosystem is extremely important and is a sign that the environment around us is healthy,” said Chris Paparo, a shark expert at Stony Brook University on Long Island. series from Twitter videos.
But professors Oliver Shipley and Michael Frisk of Stony Brook’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Science told DailyMail.com they can’t say conclusively that there’s a specific reason why sharks are swimming so close to shore.
The number of shark attacks has turned the United States into the shark capital of the world, affecting states such as Florida, New York and California.
“This is not a clear cause-and-effect scenario,” Shipley said.
“This is extremely complex and we have to be very careful about attributing single factors, such as pollution, to the reason why we may see more of certain animals in certain areas than before.”
Shipley said: “I don’t think the number of incidents is higher in the US because it has anything to do with sharks being more aggressive here compared to other places, I think there are other demographic factors that could play a role.”
Florida and California record the highest number of attacks in the U.S. each year, likely caused by more people swimming in the water in those regions and the amount of time people swim in the ocean during the year.
The International Shark Attack File found that great white, tiger and bull sharks killed the most people in 2023, but the rise in deaths is due to more people in the ocean each year and a greater emphasis on reporting bites and deaths.
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