SAN DIEGO -- A swimmer died Friday after being attacked by a shark in the water off Solana Beach

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The victim was Dr. Dave Martin, a 66-year-old retired veterinarian, according to family friend Rob Hill. Martin had been a resident of Solana Beach since 1970, Hill said. Officials said Martin was a member of a local triathlon club called SD Tri Club.

The attack happened near Fletcher Cove in an area known as Table Tops, lifeguards said.

 

Because of the form of the attack and Martin's wounds, the shark was almost certainly a great white, according to Prof. Richard Rosenblatt, a shark expert at Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla. He estimated the fish to be 12 to 17 feet long.

 

Witness said that Martin was lifted from the water by the shark. Great white sharks normally feed on seals, attacking from below with a powerful bite, Rosenblatt said. The great white ranges from north of San Francisco to the Gulf of California, so it is not unusual for them to be in the San Diego area, he said.

 

The Attack

 

A group of nine swimmers entered the water near Fletcher Cove at about 7 a.m. for a morning ocean swim, according to Lt. Mike Cea of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. They swam northward, and while they were swimming, Martin was bitten, Cea said.

 

Other swimmers looked back and saw Martin flailing before he was pulled under the water, Cea said. Witnesses said Martin was screaming when he resurfaced.

 

"It looks like the shark came up, bit him, and swam away," Solana Beach Deputy Fire Chief Dismas Abelman said.

 

The attack took place about 150 yards offshore. Several swimmers wearing wetsuits were in a group when the shark attacked, Solana Beach lifeguard Craig Miller said.

 

Martin's injuries crossed both thighs, San Diego County sheriff's Sgt. Randy Webb said in a prepared statement.

 

Several other swimmers came to Martin's aid and pulled him to shore.

 

Hill, a member of the Triathlon Club of San Diego, said he was running on the beach while about nine other members were in the water when the attack took place.

 

"They saw him come up out of the water, scream, 'Shark,' flail his arms and go back under," Hill said.

 

"The flesh was just hanging," and the man may have bled to death before he left the water, Hill said.

 

Hill said Martin was a retiree who lived just blocks from the beach.

 

"He was down here all the time," Hill said.

 

Hill said club members had been meeting at the beach for at least six years and never had seen a shark.

 

"We don't see them out here at all," he said.

 

However, Hill said he saw a seal lion on the beach Friday, which was unusual for the area, and speculated that perhaps the shark had been hunting them and got close to shore.

 

The shark may have confused the wet-suited swimmers with his prey, he said.

 

Lifeguards arrived and a helicopter ambulance was called, but Martin bled to death on the beach. Paramedics pronounced the man dead at 7:50 a.m., Cea said.

 

Helicopter video showed lifeguards, firefighters and police gathered at the main lifeguard station in Solana Beach. What appeared to be the victim's body covered by a yellow tarp was visible under a portable shade structure behind the headquarters.

 

Beaches Closed

 

Swimmers were ordered out of the water for a 17-mile stretch around Solana Beach and the county Sheriff's Department sent helicopters up to scan the waters for the shark.

 

They closed the beaches around Solana Beach to swimmers for several hours. The water was reopened before noon, but officials are strongly recommending people to stay out of the water from Solana Beach north to Carlsbad, NBC 7/39 reported.

 

Lifeguards have issued an advisory for beachgoers for 72 hours, strongly urging them to stay out of the water. The affected area is from Torrey Pines State Beach to South Carlsbad State Beach.

 

"The shark is still in the area. We're sure of that," Solana Beach Mayor Joe Kellejian said.

 

Other Incidents

 

Earlier this year, stories of shark sightings swept the coast from San Diego County north through Orange and Los Angeles counties, the Los Angeles Times reported in late March. One surfer claimed a bite mark on his surfboard was made by a great white at Bolsa Chica State Beach, but lifeguards at nearby Huntington Beach said there was no evidence of great whites in the vicinity at that time. Other shore authorities also hadn't recorded any unusual sightings.

 

The last fatal shark attack in California, according to data from the state Department of Fish and Game, took place on Aug. 15, 2004, in Mendocino County at Kibesillah Rock. The victim was a man diving for abalone with a friend.

 

On Aug. 19, 2003, a woman swimmer was killed by a great white at Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County on the central California coast.

 

The last fatal shark attack along San Diego County was off Ocean Beach in April 1994.

 

Overall, shark attacks are extremely rare. There were 71 reported worldwide last year, up from 63 in 2006. Only one attack, in the South Pacific, was fatal, according to the University of Florida.