Surfing with the Sharks
While growing up in Hawaii and California, plastic surgeon Dr. McClure never developed the leisure activities that occupy many physicians; tennis, skiing, golf. He was devoted to surfing. The limited leisure time Dr. McClure currently has is spent at northern California’s surf spots. The professional newsmagazine of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons featured Dr. McClure and his avocation in an article, read here, which also described his encounter with a great white shark.
This first attack was in October of 1997. Exactly 10 years later, to the week, Dr. McClure was surfing at the same beach, appropriately named “Shark Pit,” when an acquaintance was bitten the upper arm and shoulder by a great white shark.
“This one I didn’t witness, since we were about 70 yards apart. I did notice a commotion in the water but didn’t think much of it until I saw fireman paramedics arrive at the beach to take the surfer away. It was only an hour later after I paddled in that I heard that this surfer had been bitten.”
As an aside, global climate change has warmed the local waters, which has changed shark behavior. Multiple new sighting of groups of juvenile great white sharks have been reported just south of Santa Cruz. Three years ago in September, Dr. McClure was stand up paddle-board surfing with a friend just south of Santa Cruz, when they spotted four juvenile great whites swimming beneath them over the course of a morning. Dr. McClure’s stand-up surfboard was ten feet long. The fourth shark was longer than his board! They decided it was time to paddle to shore.
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