The 46-year-old man was taken to a hospital with bites to his left hand, left arm and his torso.
SAN DIEGO — A man who survived being bitten multiple times by a shark while he was swimming at a popular California beach Sunday punched the predator on the nose before quick-thinking fellow swimmers rescued him, an eyewitness has said.
The 46-year-old man was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla with bites to his left hand, his left arm and his torso around 9 a.m. Sunday, the city of Del Mar, north of San Diego, said in a statement.
The injuries were serious but not life-threatening, the statement said. Nearly the entire stretch of beach was closed after the attack.
The victim is part of a seasoned ocean swimming group that trains weekly. One of the group’s members, Jenna Veal, who was right behind the man in the water during the attack, told NBC’s “TODAY” show Monday that she heard him scream for help.
“He punched it in the face. He punched it in the nose,” she said. “I do know he had a gash on his hand from a shark’s tooth.”
The swimmers quickly began to take the man back to shore, where a passing emergency department doctor stopped to help.
“There is a massive all-hands-on-deck movement of support today,” Veal said. The man remained conscious throughout, she said, and is expected to be OK.
Pictures shared by Veal show the man, still in his swimming cap, lying in a stretcher and being tended to by paramedics while concerned swimmers look on.
Another eyewitness told “TODAY,” “When we saw the guy, like, swim back it was really shocking.”
Jon Edelbrock, the city’s lifeguard chief, told “TODAY” that one of the swimmers was equipped with a tourniquet, although it’s not clear whether it was used.
The attack closed beaches within a mile, shocking many seasoned local beachgoers. “I have never seen a shark sign or have known of an incident to occur right here,” one told “TODAY.”
The risk of unprovoked shark bites worldwide remains extremely low.
Experts say the best way for swimmers to reduce their risk is to always stay in groups. Use extra caution in areas near sandbars and steep dropoffs and avoid being in the water during dark or twilight hours.
Unprovoked shark attacks are rare: There were just 36 in the U.S. last year, including two in California, one of them fatal, the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File said.
The beach will remain closed until at least today.
By PATRICK SMITH/NBC News
Patrick Smith is a London-based editor and reporter for NBC News Digital.