Video: Spearfisherman Bitten by a Great White Shark in California

A spearfisherman has been bitten by a great white shark in California.

Tyler McQuillen was spearfishing off the coast of Santa Barbara on September 1 when he felt a violet tug on his right fin.

The 22-year-old thought it was just a fishing buddy playing a joke, but then he saw the shark.

The shock of seeing the shark caused him to momentarily drop his speargun in the 10-foot deep water. Thankfully, he was able to recover the gun as the shark made a second pass.

After he stabbed the great white, it left the area.

Even though he was missing his right fin and had two broken toes, McQuillen began swam back to shore.

Photo: YouTube Inside Edition/Tyler McQuillen
Photo: YouTube Inside Edition/Tyler McQuillen

The broken toes will keep him out of the water for a month, but once they are healed, he plans to get back in the water.

There have been a total of sixty-two shark attacks bites in 2016. Six of which were fatal. Twenty-eight reported in the US, with nineteen occurring in Florida. Eleven have occurred in Australia, three of which were fatal. *

All locations have been marked on the 2016 shark attack bites tracking map.

*Original article regarding the McQuillen incident can be found here

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4 Thoughts to “Video: Spearfisherman Bitten by a Great White Shark in California”

  1. GUILLERMO LIMON

    Any relationship with the Surf Beach shark that attacks every other year and is scheduled to repeat around these dates?

    1. Kmac

      Good question. I don’t believe this is related to the McMillan theory for a couple of reasons. First, the shark appears to be a juvenile and it would have been too small to bite or attack anyone in 2012 or before. Second, the shark came from behind Tyler McQuillen and bit his fin. McMillan’s hypothesis has the sharks attack from below to ambush prey, which is typical of great white hunting patterns. Finally, it looks like the shark is a male and McMillan believes the Surf Beach attacks are caused by migrating females.

      I think this young shark is still learning to hunt and when it saw McQuillen’s fin, it thought it had a seal, but wasn’t sure.

  2. Liz

    Hello Kmac, I was wondering if you could help me with my project, I am doing a report on shark attacks. I was also wondering if I could trust this site for the shark bite reported in Ponte Vedra, is there any evidence to support this?
    Plz reply to me as fast as possible
    thank you

    1. Kmac

      I sent you an email last week. Maybe check your spam folder?

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