Ralph Collier, All rights reserved. This report may not be abridged or reproduced in any form without written permission of the author.

Transcription

1 ACTIVITY: Surfing CASE: GSAF DATE: Friday March 7, 2008 LOCATION: The incident took place in the Pacific Ocean at Dog Beach, Huntington Beach, Orange County, California, USA N, W NAME: Thomas Larkin DESCRIPTION: He is a 27-yearold male, 6'4" tall and weighs 210 lbs. He was wearing a full 4/3 black wetsuit. He is a mutual fund manager. SURFBOARD: He was using a black surfboard, a 6'6" Aviso (carbon fiber) Surf Prescriptions Bat Tail Quad. BACKGROUND WEATHER: The air temperature was 60 F (estimated) and it was calm and sunny. At 07h55, Los Alamitos recorded partly cloudy skies and visibility of 10 miles [16.1 km]. The air temperature was 53.6ºF [12ºC], dew point 42.8ºF [6ºC], humidity 67%, sea level pressure inches [ hpa,] and there was no wind. MOON PHASE: New Moon, March 7, 2008 SEA CONDITIONS: The water temperature was 57ºF, the sea was glassy with five to seven-foot surf and underwater visibility was moderate. ENVIRONMENT: The ocean floor was sandy. There was no kelp or deep water channel nearby. Dolphins, possibly four, were in the vicinity but not close to the surfer. One of the other surfers, Matt Donoghue, saw a lone fin shortly before the incident. DISTANCE FROM SHORE: 250 yards DEPTH OF WATER: Approximately 15 feet TIME: 08h00 NARRATIVE: I paddled out at dog beach at Huntington Cliffs around 07h10 at a pretty full high tide. I was meeting two friends out there, Matt Donoghue and Craig Angel. The current was moving around a lot of water, and both of them were on longboards, so about 20 minutes into the surf I was tired of paddling over to them on my shortboard, and was surfing pretty much alone. There were two bodyboarders about 100 yards north of me, and I was almost due west of the ramp walkway. At about 08h00, I caught my best wave of the

2 session, and even though Matt and Craig had already gotten out, I wanted one more. I paddled back out and was sitting in the lineup alone, with the closest surfers about 200 yards south, and the bodyboarders were inside and north. I was waiting for a set for about five minutes when I felt a jolt down on the tail of my board, immediately followed by violent bubble cascade, which sunk the board down about another eight inches. I didn t really get what was going on as quickly as I should have, but as soon as it begun it had ended and I was apparently alone again. A wave popped up, I paddled into it but pearled because of the water in the nose of my board, I quickly got back on and paddled into the whitewater of the next wave and boogie boarded it to the beach where I emptied the board through the apparent bite mark. INJURY: The surfer was not injured by the shark. DAMAGE TO SURFBOARD: See photos SPECIES: The surfer did not see the shark; it came from behind and by the time the surfer looked back the shark had disappeared. Bite marks on the board indicate the incident involved a white shark. CASE INVESTIGATOR: Ralph Collier D. Stock Dog Beach, Huntington Beach, CA

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4 Left rail behind skeg Ralph Collier, All rights reserved. This report may not be abridged or reproduced in

5 Right rail Right rail close-up

6 Close-up of tooth impressions Other toothmark

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