Great White Suspected of Fatal Attack in San Diego

By ALLISON HOFFMAN
SOLANA BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A shark believed to be a great white killed a 66-year-old swimmer with a single, giant bite across both legs Friday as the man trained with a group of triathletes, authorities and witnesses said.
Dave Martin, a retired veterinarian from Solana Beach, was attacked at San Diego County's Tide Beach around 7 a.m., authorities and family friend Rob Hill said.
Martin was taken to a lifeguard station for emergency treatment but was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a statement on the Solana Beach city Web site. His injuries crossed both thighs, San Diego County sheriff's Sgt. Randy Webb said in a news release.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography shark expert Richard Rosenblatt says the shark was probably a great white between 12 and 17 feet long.
"It looks like the shark came up, bit him, and swam away," said Dismas Abelman, the Solana Beach deputy fire chief.
There was a single bite across both of Martin's legs, Abelman said.
The attack took place about 150 yards offshore. Several swimmers wearing wetsuits were in a group when the shark attacked, lifeguard Craig Miller said. Two swimmers were about 20 yards ahead of the man when they heard him scream for help. They turned around and dragged him back to shore.
Swimmers were ordered out of the water for a 17-mile stretch around the attack site and county authorities sent up helicopters to scan the waters for the shark. Eight miles of beach were closed.
"The shark is still in the area. We're sure of that," Mayor Joe Kellejian said.
Hill, a member of the Triathlon Club of San Diego, said he was running on the beach while about nine other members were in the water when the attack took place.


"They saw him come up out of the water, scream 'shark,' flail his arms and go back under," Hill said. "The flesh was just hanging," and Martin may have bled to death before he left the water, Hill said.
A witness, Ira Opper, described the victim as "burly and athletic." He said the man was wearing a black wetsuit that was shredded on both legs.
Club members had been meeting at the beach for at least six years and never had seen a shark, Hill said.
However, Hill said he saw a seal or sea lion on the beach earlier this week. Miller said a seal pup was found on the beach Friday morning before the attack and was taken to a marine animal rescue center.
The shark may have confused the wet-suited swimmers with his prey, Hill said.
Rosenblatt, the shark expert, said white sharks travel through the area, and the way the man was attacked and the "massive" but clean wounds "sounds like what a white shark would do."
White sharks hunt along the bottom, look for seal silhouettes above and then rise to attack, he said.
"A human swimmer is not too unlike a seal," he said.
Shark attacks are extremely rare. There were 71 confirmed unprovoked cases worldwide last year, up from 63 in 2006, according to the University of Florida. Only one 2007 attack, in the South Pacific, was fatal.
The last fatal shark attack in California, according to data from the state Department of Fish and Game, took place in 2004, when a man skin diving for abalone was attacked by a great white shark off the coast of Mendocino County. On Aug. 19, 2003, a great white killed a woman who was swimming at Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County on the central California coast.
Solana Beach is 14 miles northwest of San Diego.
Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat and Chelsea J. Carter in San Diego and Robert Jablon and Solvej Schou in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Pure Glass! - Great surf in Japan this morning!

A picture tells a thousand words so I wont waste anymore!

Nice Swell on here at the moments, pity it is so cold!

We just had a huge stormy swell hit over the last few days solid 6-8ft. but it cleaned up nicely, Check out these pics from this morning!

Greatest Moments in Surfing 1950-Now

Well it is official, YOUR LOCAL has reached it's 50th posting! So to celebrate in a cliche way I have decided to do a greatest moments in surfing post! Theses are my top 10 greatest surfing moments between 1950 and today:

1953- Woody Brown, Buzzy Trent and George Downing, make the drop on a massive (for the time) 15ft+ wall at Makaha and make the cover of the newspapers in california and around the world. This one photo, this one wave began the migration of surfers world wide to the North Shore and set in motion so many of the greatest surfing events to come! This photo changed the face of surfing forever!

1959- Gidget hit the screens! This has been a sore spot on the surfing map since it happened, we have heard californian surfers of the the 50's talk about how gidget exploded surfing into the main stream, we have heard the complaints about how the line ups went from fun with mates to complete mayhem, but lets put a positive spin on this one. How many of us, who live to surf, would have been exposed to surfing if our parents and grandparents hadn't jumped the Gidget bandwagon and gone surf mad back in the 50's? there is a good chance we would have almost never heard about it and it surfing may have stayed forever a niche sport! Probably not though, just a concept, surfing is that awesome that the word would have gotten out in some other way I am sure!

1969- Greg Noll Rides mega Makaha! This was one of the defining stories in surfing, 1 man, massive surf and the guts to go it alone and charge it! When everyone else was evacuating Greg Noll was waiting for his set!

1969-1973- Mr Pipeline, Jerry Lopez, helps redefine surfing, now it is all about the barrel! Jerry was the style master, he made riding perfect hollow Pipelne look like taking a lazy sunday stroll, fluid and yet bold, Jerry took the world of surfing to it's favorite place; The green room. In 1971 Jerry began riding one of the most iconic boards in surf history; the lightning bolt, a design which is still seen to this day!

1979- Mark Richards, MR, The Wounded Gull, secures his surfing legacy with his 4th back to back world title. MR was unstoppable, his twin fin fish perfected and his style and speed un matched, every time this guy hit the water was a great moment in surfing!

1980-81- Simon Anderson changed the way were surfed,was heckled, doubted and laughed at when he unveiled his latest board design, the Thruster! At the time no-one could conceive the board working, the 3 fin set up was just weird and had no chance of working! So like with every ground breaking and innovative invention, Simon found himself needing to prove that his design would not only work, but work well and in any conditions. He rode his thruster at bells beach in 1981, with 15ft+ waves almost all the other surfers were just bouncing down the face, while only Anderson was ripping out sick open faced carves with seeming ease! Still nothing is proven in surfing till it is proven on the north shore. Simon rode his revolutionary thruster in the 1981 Pipe Masters, at the time no one thought that 3 little fins would hold you through your bottom turn, in a wave as heavy as Pipe, but Simon was confident in his craft and came through to win the crown that year. After this redefining moment, the thruster became the only board to ride!

1990- Tom Curren emerges from out of no where and starts a campaign for another world title. Curren is possibly the most iconic figure in surfing history. At a time when surfing was dominated but Australian surfers, Curren emerged with a perfect combination of style, flow and raw power that saw him almost unbeatable in any heat!He brought surfing back to california and is listed as a role model for many of the worlds best surfers today. The perpetual recluse, Curren disappeared after winning his second world title for a few years and then returned to accomplish what no one thought was possible. In 1990 Curren entered the world title race un-seeded which meant he would have to surf his way through all the trails at each stop on the world tour. The concept of anyone, even the iconic Tom Curren doing this and actually winning the title was laughable! However that is exactly what Tom did in 1990. A feat which can never be repeated as the following year saw the birth of the WQS and the end of the trails to the title!

1991- Tom Caroll Snaps under the lip at makin' Pipe during the Pipe Masters, which he goes on to win. There is not much to say about this except WTF! that was and still is one of the most radicle turns ever in surf history! but don't take my word for it, watch the video below!

1992- Kelly Slater takes his first world title! In what was to become one of the most bankable things in surfing, Kelly Slater has gone on to win 8 world titles to date and his still charging hard, winning the first 2 events of this years WCT giving himself a great lead in his campaign for title number 9. I don't need to write much here, even people who don't surf know who Kelly is! Kelly and many of his peers began a style of surfing that tore away from the traditional power surfing of the decade before, riding super small, super thin and light thrusters these guys took it above the lip and created a fast explosive style of surfing that has so far lasted the test of time!

2000- Laird Hamilton, one of the fathers of tow in surfing takes a break from riding 60ft giant waves at P'eahi in Maui, to show us all just how far surfing can go! You have all seen it, you all know it! Lairds epic wave at Teahupoo in 2000' so I will shut up now and just let you watch the video!

Well there we go folks, Some of the best moments in surfing history! There have been so many great moments it is flat out impossible to sit here and put them all in one post! So if you have a moment in surfing that stands out for you, why not leave a comment and share it with us!

Thanks for reading my 50th post in YOUR LOCAL

This Years Rip Curl Search!

The Rip Curl SEARCH Men's WCT event is still searching. Unsuccessful attempts at securing an Australian or New Zealand location have surfing fans wondering where, and if, Rip Curl can pull off a SEARCH event this year. If it does happen, it’s clear that a developing country will be Rip Curl's home, most likely Indonesia according to well-placed anonymous sources.

Rip Curl first attempted to secure the legendary wave at Gnaraloo station in Western Australia. The perfect and challenging left hand barrel would have been a great test for the world's best competitive surfers. Upon hearing about Rip Curl's plans to hold the SEARCH at Gnaraloo, the local surfing community united against the event and created an online petition. The “Save Gnaraloo” petition secured thousands of signatures and forced Rip Curl to look at other options. According to one former Rip Curl employee, "(Rip Curl) will not hold the event without support of the local community."

After deciding against Gnaraloo, Rip Curl eyed the epic lefthanders of Raglan in New Zealand, according to New Zealand's Waikato Times Newspaper. Raglan, and specifically the wave known as "Indicators", like Gnaraloo, would be a great venue, both scenically and competitively pending a swell for the world’s Top 45 surfers. Again however, the local surfing community emphatically protested the event by unanimously voting against it at a Raglan Town Hall Meeting, thereby once again denying the Rip Curl SEARCH WCT’s request. The landowners and local surfers cited indigenous Maori sacred land as the primary cause of concern, according to the Waikato Times report.



Surfing New Zealand, the country's governing association for competitive surfing, has offered a solution. According the Waikato Times article, Surfing New Zealand has suggested holding the event at other spots in the scenic country, specifically Manu Bay and the Raglan bar. No one knows for sure if Rip Curl is considering Surfing New Zealand's offer.

If past success is an indicator, then look for Rip Curl to search out a developing country with the infrastructure to handle the logistics of a large event and the financial desire to look past issues raised by first world countries. Indonesia, specifically Bali, seems the obvious choice. Don't be surprised if G-Land is on Rip Curl's short list as well.

At this point Rip Curl's SEARCH WCT location remains unknown. In an email regarding its next locale, Neil Ridgway, Rip Curl’s International Marketing Director, would only comment, "Somewhere…”. Rumors about Indonesia have been boiling in the Orange County surf industry cauldron as the event’s most probable site. With a 'floating' license from the ASP that runs from July 30 - August 10 everybody is going to need an answer from Rip Curl fairly soon. Logistically speaking, people need to know. The prestigious Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach is next on the ASP’s docket. Rip Curl will likely announce the SEARCH WCT location at that time.

If you are like most, really the only thing for certain is that come July 30th, on a webcast near you, the Top 45 surfers will be ripping somewhere. Our hunch is that it will be in Bali or G-Land. Wherever they end up, this year more than any other, Rip Curl has certainly had to break out the maps, flashlights, and diplomatic skills, and search.


For my money, I would love to see it it go down in some Makin' lefts at G-Land, with the poor conditions at Pipe for the Pipeline Masters, and the last few years at chopes. I am starting to froth over seeing the top 45 get some serious backhand pits! Make it G-land and may huey send super hollow, super clean 6-8ft surf so we can get a real show this year!