A fishing trip turned grisly after a man was reportedly bitten by a shark Sunday morning in Malibu.
The man, not yet identified, was fishing from his kayak about two miles off the coast near Paradise Cove, NBC Los Angeles reported. Around 7:30 a.m. his hook caught a shortfin mako shark.
The fisherman and the shark apparently tangled when the man tried to release the fish.
“The shark bit him, he let the shark go and then the shark came back and knocked him off the boat and attacked him again and bit his leg again,” lifeguard Alex Buford told NBC4.
He was transported to a local hospital; his condition is unknown. The L.A. County Fire Department, which responded to the incident, could not be reached for additional details as of Sunday evening.
Shark sightings along the coast have surged in recent months. Last month, anglers spotted a giant whale shark swimming off Malibu and Santa Barbara Island, a rare occurrence probably driven by warmer waters from El Niño.
In August, a hammerhead shark was spottedoff the Malibu pier. One person who was fishing hooked the shark. But after circling a few times, the shark spat out the bait, leaving fishermen on the pier stunned.
The shortfin mako shark is known to inhabit the ocean waters off Malibu, and was once a target of commercial fishing in California, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. They are considered dangerous to humans due to their speed, power and size.
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