Podiatrist in Del Mar, CA

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Posted at 12:02 AM, Nov 05, 2022

and last updated 12:12 AM, Nov 05, 2022

DEL MAR, Calif. (KGTV) — First a bump, then a bite, and then a desperate rush to get back to the shore, that’s how the woman attacked by a shark in Del Mar describes her swim Friday morning.

The woman, Lyn Jutronich, talked exclusively with ABC 10News Friday night.

RELATED: Del Mar woman bit by shark, beach closed

Jutronich says she swam competitively in college and swims in the ocean two or three times a week. Friday morning- she and her swim partner were resting in the water, before heading back to shore, when something slammed into her.

“I felt a huge, like a really hard hit right, I don't know how else to say this, like right between my legs and it pushed me, it hurt and it pushed me up and out of the water,” says Jutronich.

The expert swimmer says she immediately knew, without a doubt, she was up against a shark, although she doesn't remember clearly because everything happened so quickly.

“I saw it clamp on my leg so I don't know if I saw it bite my leg or if I saw it after it bit my leg but I definitely saw the mouth. It was on my right leg and it shook once, kind of like a dog, and it let me go.”

She was able to come up for air and told her swim partner what had just happened.

“I’ve just been bit, I've just been bit, we've gotta get into shore,” says Jutronich.

The pair was able to swim back to shore together, where lifeguards and emergency crews rushed Lyn to the hospital.

Del Mar beach was closed and signs were posted to alert swimmers and surfers.

Lyn admits she's still a bit in shock but even as she recovers, she's using a little humor to help her heal.

“My friend sent me an article that said I should buy a Powerball ticket because apparently, the chances of winning the power ball are less than being attacked by a shark so I've got that going for me,” says Jutronich.

The long-time swimmer says she’s still not sure if she’ll get back in the water and hopes to not lose a hobby that she loves so much but first wants to focus on her healing and go from there.

Del Mar Beach will be closed through Sunday morning.

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DEL MAR — Large swells as a result of a winter storm on Friday led to minor flooding in parts of Del Mar as well as closures of some beach access points after large waves cleared several of the sand berms constructed along the shore.

Seawater that crashed against seawalls around 7 a.m. on Friday led to standing water in the Ocean Front alley, with residents piling sandbags to keep the water at bay, as well as parts of Coast Highway. Beach access points at 18th street were closed.

At Powerhouse Park, a sand berm that previously offered a sloping descent down to the beach was transformed into an 8-foot dropoff, and the beach entrance at the Lifeguard Headquarters was left with a 3-foot dropoff down to the sand.

According to Deputy Chief Lifeguard Mark Rathsam, the fact that the berms are gone rather than the property they were protecting means they did their job. These sand piles are constructed annually in preparation for the winter’s stronger swells.

“Ultimately, we have one storm like this, and they’re gone in a day,” Rathsam said, speaking from headquarters. “We had one wave come through, break, and flood the garage, the parking lot, everything.”

Public Works has been working to move sand from the beach and pile it by the beach access point at headquarters to reconstruct berms. On Friday, several residents making their daily walks down the beach were told to head back in the other direction by city officials while an excavator traveled back and forth from the water.

“Usually I’m walking all the way around Del Mar. Now I’m doing it in reverse,” said resident Arnold Satterthwait. “I’m hearing that there’s record levels of surf and height… you’re seeing the damage now.”

A high surf warning and coastal flood advisory issued by the National Weather Service was in place through the evening of Jan. 6. Del Mar officials said tides in excess of 6 feet are predicted in the mornings through Jan. 8.

However, long-range forecasts predict continued large surf and high tides throughout the month. Waves of up to 10 feet are forecasted for Jan. 11 and Jan. 13 to 16, and a king tide of nearly 7 feet is forecasted for around 8 a.m. on Jan. 21.

Additional rainfall is also forecasted for Jan. 10.

Twenty-one schools governed by nine San Diego County school districts have been chosen for the 2023 California Distinguished Schools award program, announced by California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.

The state Department of Education named more than 350 elementary schools to the program, which is back this year after the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily suspended the reporting of data used to choose the schools. The California Distinguished Schools Award, created in 1985, celebrates exceptional schools, districts, teachers and classified employees for their success in supporting students.

To evaluate the schools, the state Department of Education uses multiple measures, including data reported through the 2022 California School Dashboard, which assesses test results, absenteeism, suspension rates, and socioeconomic data. Information from the 2022 Dashboard is available at bit.ly/3CIT43x.

Schools were recognized for excellence either in closing the achievement gap or for exceptional student performance. Elementary schools and middle and high schools are honored in alternate years.

“It is my pleasure to honor and recognize these 356 elementary schools for providing outstanding public education and opportunities to students. Their innovation and hard work have helped to ensure their students can heal, recover, and thrive — even in the toughest times,” Thurmond said in a statement. “California Distinguished Schools represent examples of not just excellent teaching, learning, and collaboration, but also highly successful, data-driven school efforts ranging from professional development for educators to mental health and social-emotional wellness strategies to address the needs of students and families.”

The San Diego County school districts whose schools were honored are:Del Mar Union Elementary School District: Ocean Air Elementary, Sage Canyon Elementary, Ashley Falls Elementary, Sycamore Ridge Elementary, Carmel Del Mar ElementaryEncinitas Union Elementary School District: El Camino Creek Elementary, Capri ElementaryEscondido Union Elementary School District: Classical Academy, Heritage K-8 CharterJulian Union Elementary School District: Julian Charter School — Mountain Oaks (in Encinitas)Mountain Empire Unified School District: Elite Academic Academy — Mountain Empire (in Temecula)San Diego County Office of Education: Classical Academy VistaSan Diego Unified School District: Scripps Elementary, Mt. Everest Academy, Innovations AcademySolana Beach School District: Carmel Creek Elementary, Solana Highlands Elementary, Solana Pacific Elementary, Skyline Elementary, Solana Ranch ElementaryWarner Unified School District: Excel Academy Charter (in Irvine)

Lyn Jutronich has been swimming her entire life. Here in San Diego, she’s part of a group of ocean swimmers. It's safe to say, most days, you can find her in the water.

“During the week, I have a swim partner that I meet up with a couple of times a week,” said Jutronich. “And he and I swim together the same route that we usually do with the group because it's familiar and we know the distance and we know there are lifeguards and people out. So we had met up [on that day].”

But on Friday, her routine swim turned into a bloody nightmare.

NBC 7's Jackie Crea is in Del Mar where she got more details from San Diego Lifeguards.

“We usually relax for a couple of minutes, tread water, talk about maybe what we're gonna get for breakfast and then we head in,” said Jutronich. “So we were in that process, and then all of a sudden I just felt a huge bump.”

Before she knew it -- came a bite.

“I looked down and I saw the shark bite my thigh,” said Jutronich. “Fortunately, it released. It shook maybe one time, that's where I have the tears from, and then released.”

Shocked and terrified, she called on her partner for help.

“I said, 'David, I've been bit, I've been bit,'” said Jutronich. “'We have to get to shore, you have to get me into shore.'”

The pair was able to swim back to shore where lifeguards and emergency crews rushed Jutronich to the hospital.

“I have some obviously pretty bad wounds, but no major arteries were hit as far as we can tell,” said Jutronich. “There's no nerve damage. I just have a big shark bite on my right thigh.”

A tiger shark jumped out of the water and bit a marine conservationist’s fins in a video that has gone viral.

Jutronich has been treated for puncture and laceration wounds to her upper right thigh.

“I am doing great for everything considered,” said Jutronich. “I am incredibly lucky and unlucky all at the same time.”

The beach where the attack happened remained closed for two days while lifeguards monitored the area.

Del Mar is known to have a significant juvenile great white shark population. However, it is still unclear if that was the type of shark involved in the attack.

When asked if she’ll get back in the water after what happened, she said she’s taking it one step at a time.

“I'm not going to be getting in any water anytime soon, because I have some pretty nasty wounds that need to heal, and then I'll go from there,” said Jutronich.

Jutronich was swimming at least 200 yards offshore when the incident happened.

According to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark File, there were 73 unprovoked incidents recorded around the world last year, three of them in California.

Lifeguards cleared the beach after a female swimmer was treated with non-fatal injuries Friday around 10 a.m.

DEL MAR, Calif — A popular Del Mar beach has been closed after a shark attack was confirmed around 10 a.m. on Friday near the 17th St. beach.

Del Mar lifeguards said that a female swimmer was in waist-deep water with another person when they noticed the swimmer was waving her arms, looking like she was in distress. When the lifeguards responded, they pulled the swimmer onto shore and saw that her injury was consistent with a shark bite.

The swimmer was given medical aid and was then transported to a local hospital in stable condition.

The beach and water access have been closed north and south of 17th Street off of Coast Blvd. for the next 48 hours.

Per Shark Lab protocol, the beach was closed. Lifeguards did a search of the water nearby and did not spot any sharks in the immediate area.

Credit: CBS 8

Lifeguards will perform drone flyovers and patrol the area throughout the weekend from dawn until dusk in search of sharks, they advised.

The presumed attack occurred five days after the carcass of an 8-foot juvenile great white shark that appeared to have been injured by a large fishing hook washed ashore at Torrey Pines State Beach in San Diego, authorities said.

The state-funded Cal State University Shark Lab started researching and taking drone videos of a group of sharks that moved into the waters off Del Mar between Solana Beach and Torrey Pines.

The lab says the sharks find a place they like and that group or cluster lives there until they decide to move on.

Chris Lowe is the Director of the CSULB Shark Lab. He says, “People and juvenile white sharks are interacting daily at those beaches. We've documented hundreds of times when sharks and people were within just a few feet of each other.”

In the 3 years since the shark cluster moved in, Lowe and Shark Lab researchers have tagged 62 Great White Sharks in these waters.

Drone video shows a group of them swimming just beyond where the waves start to crash.

“They'll come into water 4-5 feet deep at the shallowest and sometimes we see them within 50 feet of the shoreline. A lot depends on how much swell there is. They don't like being in the wash. So quite often they're just outside the wave break and typically we see them about 100 yards off shore," Lowe said.

Lowe says he was shocked when he was told a woman was bit while swimming today. He says it’s the first incident since the group showed up. He says, “I am surprised because 3 years of sharks and people hanging out together and nothing and then suddenly to have this happen is really surprising to me.”

Lowe says there have been 6 shark bite incidents in all of Southern California this year. He says scientists don’t know exactly why sharks occasionally bite people, but they assume it’s a mistake since they don’t eat humans and it appears they lose interested after they bite into a person. Lowe says it’s also possible they feel threatened when they do bite.

Lowe says within this cluster off the coast of Del Mar, they’ve seen 40 sharks in one place at one time.

So what should you do if you see a shark? Lowe says, “If you’re out in the water and you see a shark, first of all it’s a really cool thing. But always keep your eye on the shark. Let the shark know you see it. They’re predators like a mountain lion or a bear. If you’re on a surfboard, turn your surfboard toward the shark. Let the shark know you’re watching it and quite often once they know they’re sighted, they’ll take off.”

Lowe also suggests to swim in groups and surf in groups. He says the probability of getting bitten goes down if people are in groups. “You’re far more in danger driving to the beach than you ever would be from being in the water with a white shark," Lowe said.

RELATED: Dead Great White Shark found at Torrey Pines

WATCH RELATED: Del Mar shark attack prompts beach closure at 17th Street