A swimmer has survived an attack from a shark that scientists say is comparable in size to the largest white shark ever recorded.
Steve Bruemmer, 62, was swimming at Lover’s Point Beach in Monterey, California, on Wednesday when a shark bit his stomach, leg and arm. Bruemmer lost 30 liters of blood, but is expected to miraculously recover.
Based on a forensic examination of Bruemmer’s bite marks, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed that the shark was a great white shark. Scientists estimate the shark was as long as 20 feet, which is the largest great whites typically grow, The Sun reported.
If true, the California shark’s length matches that of Deep Blue, the largest great white shark on record. Deep Blue, a 2.5-ton female estimated to be over 50 years old, was filmed swimming 550 miles south of the Mexican island of Guadalupe.
Great white sharks can live up to 60 years and do not stop growing, although their growth does slow down as they get older.
The creature that attacked Bruemmer, as described by experts, is larger than a two-ton, 17-foot female shark seen off the coast of Nova Scotia in 2020.
After Bruemmer was attacked, officials closed the beach to the public and the Monterey Fire Department deployed drones to search for the shark, but were unable to spot it.
Police officer Paul Bandy and his wife, Nurse Aimee Johns, were on paddleboards and reached Bruemmer after seeing the water turn red with his blood.
Surf instructor Heath Braddock got the kids he was teaching safely to shore before taking to the ocean with two surfboards.
“He was 300 feet away. Many tourists howl wolf and shout “shark!” It is rarely the case. Usually it’s a dolphin,” Braddock said.
“But this man kept shouting candidly. I saw the pool of blood around him, so I knew it was real.”
The two paddleboarders helped get Bruemmer onto the larger of the two surfboards.
“I pulled on his good arm and they lifted the other arm that was bitten,” Braddock said. “His leg wound was the most pronounced—his bone was fully exposed. Most of the damage was to his front abdomen.’
Returning to the beach, the three heroes tore Bruemmer’s wetsuit and wrapped tourniquets around his wounds to slow the bleeding. He was transported to Natividad Medical Center, where he underwent a two-hour operation requiring 30 liters of blood to make up for the “huge amount” he had bled.
Bruemmer, who is still recovering in hospital, said the shark’s attack was “unfortunate”, but that he was “so lucky” afterwards.
‘The day was so calm and warm, and the beach was crowded. There were no waves and there were no waves,” Bruemmer said. “So people could say ‘Help!’ hear yelling. from a great distance.’
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