Shark bites surfer off Santa Barbara coast

Shark reportedly bites surfer off Santa Barbara coast

December 23, 2019

SANTA BARBARA - A shark reportedly bit a surfer Saturday afternoon off Southern California, the Coast Guard said.

The 37-year-old man had been surfing near Santa Rosa Island, one of the Channel Islands, during the attack.

A friend aboard a nearby boat applied a tourniquet to his leg and called the Coast Guard for help, the release stated. A helicopter crew flew the man to the Santa Barbara airport for treatment and he was in stable condition Saturday evening.

Coast Guard video footage posted on Twitter shows the man, wearing a full-body wetsuit, being hoisted up from the boat into the helicopter.