Overview

• The encounter was reported around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday roughly 12 miles off Catalina Island, about halfway to the mainland.
• Crew on the swimmer’s escort boat treated leg and foot wounds before meeting LAFD vessels mid-channel for transfer to shore.
• The man in his 50s was conscious and stable and was taken from Fire Station 110 to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
• LAFD officials said the shark was estimated at 3 to 4 feet and described the contact as a brief nip before it swam away.
• The swimmer had set out on a solo attempt of the roughly 20-mile Catalina Channel, a marathon route typically started at night, as experts emphasized such bites are rare in California despite seasonal juvenile white-shark presence.