Surfer Hospitalized After Calif. Shark Attack
MONTEREY (AP) -- A shark attacked a surfer Saturday off a California beach, biting him in the neck and arm and sending him to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Eric Tarantino of Monterey was attacked around 7 a.m., just minutes after he and a friend entered the water at Marina State Beach, The Monterey Herald reported.
The shark bit Tarantino, 27, on the neck and right forearm and left teeth marks in his red surfboard.
Tarantino's friend, Brandon McKibben of Salinas, helped him out of the water, and other surfers used beach towels to try to stop his bleeding.
Tarantino was taken to a local airport by paramedics and flown to the San Jose Regional Medical Center, authorities said.
His condition wasn't immediately known. However, Dana M. Jones, Monterey Sector Superintendent for the California Department of Parks and Recreation, said Tarantino's injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
Following the attack, Tarantino's damaged surfboard was placed in the back of a state park ranger's patrol car in the beach parking lot. A few fellow surfers stopped to examine the board's new gashes.
Jones said signs will be posted along the area's beaches advising of the shark danger and recommending that beach-goers refrain from water activities for the next week.
She said the waters will be observed in the coming days for additional shark activity.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
