Shark Bites Surfer Near San Luis Obispo

A man surfing near San Luis Obispo was bitten by a great white shark Sunday morning, but he is expected to survive.

The 50-year old Morro Bay man, identified by his wife at the scene as Kevin Swanson, was surfing off Montaña de Oro State Beach when he was bitten by a shark just after 11 a.m. Adam Walsh, who was surfing with Swanson, told the San Luis Obispo Tribune that the shark was a young shark about 9 feet long, and that it pulled Swanson under with its bite. "He was gone for a couple seconds, but it let him go," described Walsh.

Luckily for Swanson, the bite did not sever any major arteries and was not life-threatening. He was able to paddle to the beach where paramedics were waiting. He was airlifted to a nearby hospital for injuries on his right hip.

Montaña de Oro State Beach is near Los Osos, which itself is 10 miles west of San Luis Obispo. Authorities will not close the beach, but instead have posted notifications warning surfers and swimmers of the incident.