Francisco Solorio Shark Attack: Great White Was 15 Feet Or Longer
The shark involved in the fatal attack on Santa Barbara-area surfer Francisco Solorio was a whopper.
Solorio's board
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department last night described the shark involved as a great white measuring as many as 16 feet.
The department says Solorio was surfing with three friends at Surf Beach Tuesday morning when he ...
... was bitten by the shark in the upper torso area.
In a subsequent statement sheriff's officials described the attacker:
The shark in this tragic incident has been positively identified as a 15- to 16-foot great white shark.
Solorio was dragged onto the sand by a friend, but efforts at CPR were unsuccessful, authorities said.
He was described by his pals as part of a tight-knit group of surfers from nearby Orcutt, California.
Experts believe the sharks sometimes mistake surfers, floating on the surface in black wetsuits, as more common prey such as seals.
The attack came nearly two years after another shark attack that took a body boarder's life at the same beach.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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