Local surfer recovering after shark attack near Santa Rosa Island

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - A 37-year-old man is in stable condition after a frightening shark attack on Saturday afternoon off the coast of Santa Rosa Island.

A friend of the survivor, who did not want his name to be mentioned, told NewsChannel 3 that the man may be released from Santa Barbara's Cottage Hospital as soon as Sunday night.

That friend says the survivor was surfing off his boat with another friend, when what they believe to be a great white shark attacked him and bit him in the leg.

The friend on the boat reportedly used a tourniquet to slow the bleeding before the two called the U.S. Coast Guard, which airlifted the injured surfer to Santa Barbara.

Some locals say they don’t often hear about these scary attacks out on the ocean.

“Rare cases, to be frank, around these parts of California,” local recording artist Danny Tran said. “Maybe once a year, if that.”

Ralph Collier, founder of a non-profit scientific research organization called the Shark Research Committee, says these attacks happen more often than some may think.

“We average about six shark attacks per year along the Pacific Coast,” Collier said.

He says since 1900, more than 90 percent of Pacific Coast shark attacks have been by white sharks, commonly known as great white sharks.

Collier also says there have been more unprovoked shark attacks in the last 20 years than in the previous 100.

“We have a lot more people in the water,” Collier explained. “And because the white shark has been protected now for 25 years.”

Saturday’s attack is making some people at least think twice about jumping back in the ocean.

“Now that I heard about that recent attack, I might be a little bit more shy,” Tran said. “I’ll swim in the pool instead.”