(CNN) — A 13-year-old boy who was attacked by a shark early Saturday is still in serious condition, downgraded from the critical condition he was in originally, according to Dr. Tim Fairbanks, chief of pediatric and trauma surgery at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego. The boy was attacked while diving for lobsters in waters off Encinitas, California, authorities said. Encinitas is about 25 miles north of San Diego. The boy suffered traumatic injuries to his upper torso, Encinitas lifeguard Capt. Larry Giles said. The injury was very large and deep in his chest, Fairbanks said. The attack happened before 7 a.m., about 150 to 200 yards from Beacon’s Beach, Giles said. Several people were in the water diving for lobsters, he said, because it was the opening of the season for catching the crustaceans. Three good Samaritans heard the boy’s cries and helped bring him ashore using a kayak, Giles said. One of the rescuers was a lifeguard sergeant who was among those diving for lobsters. Lifeguards had been on duty early Saturday because of two nearby events, and the response to the attack was “very short,” Giles said. “The lifeguard was within a quarter-mile of the incident with a lifeguard truck and arrived on scene and started providing first aid right away,” he said. The lifeguard was an emergency medical technician, Giles added. Paramedics arrived soon after, and the boy was taken to the hospital. He was conscious and talking on the beach, Giles said, as well as on his way to the hospital. Chad Hammel said he was one of the people in the water who helped. Hammel said he thought the boy was just excited when he first heard him shouting. “And then I realized that he was yelling, ‘I got bit! Help, help,’ ” Hammel said. He didn’t realize the extent of the boy’s injuries until he and a friend put him on their kayak. “Once we got him on the kayak we could really see what happened,” Hammel said. “And his whole clavicle’s ripped open; you could see the ball and socket joint and everything.” The beach was reopened on Monday, Encinitas Lifeguard Capt. Larry Giles said. Nearby beaches between Ponto Beach and Swami’s Beach were closed for 48 hours after the attack, Giles said. One scheduled surf event was canceled. Giles said there was a nonfatal shark attack earlier this year at Camp Pendleton, north of Encinitas. CNN’s Sarah Moon and Cheri Mossburg contributed to this report.<doc-sep>A teen boy has been hospitalized after he sustained serious injuries from a shark attack while he was lobster diving in Encinitas, California 13-Year-Old Boy in Serious Condition After Being Attacked by 10-Foot Shark in San Diego County A teenage boy sustained serious upper body injuries after he was attacked by an estimated 10-foot-long shark on Saturday morning while diving for lobsters off the coast of Encinitas, a popular beach town in San Diego County. According to CBS News, Keane Hayes, 13, has improved from critical condition to serious condition, and is expected to make a full recovery. He is the first shark victim in the area in 30 years, the outlet reported. Get push notifications with news, features and more. A nearby kayaker, Chad Hammel, witnessed the incident and told the outlet he heard the boy scream. “It’s probably like ten feet of blood behind him,” he recalled to CBS News. “And he’s in a panic.” The calls about the attack came in around 7 a.m. local time, FOX 5 reported. Lobster diving season had begun at 6 a.m., and Hayes was reportedly participating with his church youth group. Hammel also told the local station that he heard someone yelling “I got bit!” and that he rescued the boy by pulling him onto his kayak. “We told him he’s going to be okay, he’s going to be alright,” Hammel said to Fox 5. “We got help. I yelled at everyone to get out of the water: ‘There’s a shark in the water!’ ” He continued, “Once we threw him up on the kayak and started heading in, that’s when I looked back, and the shark was behind the kayak. He didn’t want to give up yet.” Hayes was then airlifted to Rady Children’s Hospital and endured nine hours of treatment for his upper torso injuries before he was stabilized, according to the Independent. “This is a rare injury,” said Rady’s chief of pediatric surgery, Dr. Tim Fairbanks, in a news conference Saturday afternoon. “This is not something we see much of, to be honest with you.” Dr. Chris Lowe, director of the University of California, Long Beach’s Shark Lab, told CBS the attack was “just bad luck… Ten feet is still a juvenile; it would be a large juvenile… The shark just [mistook] this person for potential prey and took a bite.” He added, “We may start encountering sharks in places where we haven’t encountered them before. And as [shark] populations are recovering, people might start encountering them more.” In 2017 alone, the U.S. had more shark attacks than any other nation: 53. RELATED: Shark Grabs Fish Off Hook As People Reel It In Authorities are investigating if the shark was a great white and closed off the coastline from Ponto Beach in Carlsbad to Swami’s Beach in Encinitas for 48 hours.<doc-sep>Before going lobster hunting Saturday morning at Beacon’s Beach in Encinitas, 13-year-old Keane Webre-Hayes told his mother that he would make her a lobster dinner Saturday night, Ellie Hayes told reporters Monday at Rady Children’s Hospital. A shark attack interrupted the hunt, critically injuring the teen, whom doctors said was recovering and in serious condition Monday in a pediatric intensive care unit. Ellie Hayes described her son as a “brave, very strong, athletic … warrior.” “I didn’t know he was that good of a swimmer,” Hayes said. “I’m really proud of him.” Advertisement Ellie Hayes, mother of shark biting victim Keane Webre-Hayes, speaks at a news conference about the condition of her son in San Diego on Monday, Oct. 1, 2018. Keane, 13, was bitten by a shark while lobster diving at Beacon’s Beach in Encinitas on Saturday. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) Dr. Tim Fairbanks, the chief of pediatric surgery and the medical director for trauma at the children’s hospital, shared a message from the boy at the news conference. “Keane wants you to know he has all his limbs,” Fairbanks said. “And he’s going to be going home fully intact.” Samples swabbed from Webre-Haye’s wetsuit have been sent to a geneticist in hopes of identifying what kind of shark bit him. Results from the tests are expected later in the week — Wednesday or Thursday, said Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at Long Beach State University. Determining what kind of shark bit the boy will help authorities better understand the behavior patterns of sharks and what risks people face in the region’s waters. Lifeguards on Monday reopened beaches from Ponto Beach in southern Carlsbad to Swami’s Beach in Encinitas. The stretch of coastline had been closed to swimmers, divers and surfers since Saturday. The beaches reopened at 7 a.m. after no other shark sightings were reported by lifeguards or members of the public, said city spokeswoman Lois Yum. “So that’s really great news,” she said. At a separate news conference Monday afternoon, Encinitas Marine Safety Capt. Larry Giles advised people going in the water to be cautious, but also stressed that shark attacks are rare. Advertisement “In 30 years working here in the city of Encinitas, we have not had anything like this in our city, ever,” he said. “In the last 50 years, I’m not aware of anything like this happening in our city.” A fatal shark attack happened in Solana Beach in 2008, he noted, and a non-fatal shark attack happened near Camp Pendleton this summer. Giles said additional patrols would be on the coast for the rest of the week, and he urged anybody who spotted a shark to tell lifeguards, law enforcement officers or fire department officials. Researchers are trying to determine what kind of shark attacked the boy as he was diving for lobsters early Saturday at Beacon’s Beach at the foot of Leucadia Boulevard. Advertisement The teen suffered traumatic upper body wounds in the attack. A GoFundMe account had raised more than $28,500 as of Monday evening. Giles said the public has been cooperative, and most people obeyed the city’s order to stay out of the water over the 48-hour closure. At the same time, however, almost all of the signs warning people to stay off city beaches because of a shark sighting had been stolen, he said. Saturday was the first day of lobster-diving season, and Monday was the first day non-baited traps could be set in the water. Giles advised anybody going in the water to be aware of other wildlife around them, as the behavior of seals or dolphins can indicate a shark in the area. Advertisement Wally Buckingham, a Cardiff resident and former San Diego lifeguard, was one of several people diving for lobster Saturday morning. “Earlier in the dive, I was harassed by a seal,” he said. “He wouldn’t leave me alone. Finally, he went away.” Buckingham said the seal’s behavior might have been related to a shark in the area, and he suspects the shark may have been attracted by the many people swimming and talking in the calm, mostly flat water. “They sent out a lot of vibrations,” he said. “I heard that when sharks hear a vibration, they come and investigate.” Advertisement Buckingham said he was about 40 yards away from the boy who was attacked. “I heard a guttural, primal scream, like ‘Help me, help me,’” he said.”I saw all this commotion by a kayak, and I see an individual yelling, ‘9-1-1, Call 9-1-1. Everybody out of the water.’” Buckingham said he assumed someone had spotted a shark, so he came out of the water. Three men in kayaks, including an off-duty Oceanside police officer and a state lifeguard, brought the boy to the beach. Buckingham said he helped take the boy’s wetsuit off and saw what he called severe trauma to his body. Advertisement × Mother of 13-year-old boy who was attacked by a shark Saturday in Encinitas holds a press conference (Video courtusy of FOX 5 San Diego) The boy was attacked about an hour after lobster diving season opened and about two dozen hunters were in the area when the boy began screaming about 200 yards from shore. Witnesses have said the shark was around 11 feet long. Webre-Hayes’ mother and doctor offered few new details about what happened. His mother suggested the teen swam away from shore, but toward a kayak, after the attack. Advertisement “He had the wits about him, knew there were men in a kayak away from the shore, and that’s amazing to me,” Ellie Hayes said. “I will never question his wits again, ever.” Hayes said her son’s survival was a miracle, “and I think Keane is a miracle,” she said. “He’s very, very, very strong. He’s a survivor now … he is an incredible human being.” Advertisement Twitter: @karenkucher (619) 293-1350 Advertisement karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com UPDATES: 5:15 p.m.: This article was updated with details from a news conference at Rady Children’s Hospital. 4:35 p.m.: This article was updated with details from a news conference in Encinitas. Advertisement The story was originally posted at 12:20 p.m.<doc-sep>The teenage boy who was attacked by a shark off a California beach on Saturday is in serious condition but recovering from traumatic bite injuries, a hospital official said Monday. Keane Webre-Hayes,13, talked and was alert Monday morning in a pediatric intensive care unit at Rady Children's Hospital about 48 hours after a harrowing attack left his clavicle "ripped open," according to a kayaker who rendered aid off Beacon's Beach in Encinitas, 25 miles north of San Diego. "He's improving, but we still have care to do to get him out of the hospital," said Dr. Tim Fairbanks, Rady's chief of pediatric surgery. "While he's doing well, we still have significant recovery." More:Shark attack injures boy, 13, at Southern California beach More:Shark stalked bloody victim as rescuers rushed him to California beach The staff is monitoring the boy's blood count and risk for infection. Rehabilitation work will need to be done, Fairbanks said, adding that Webre-Hayes still has all of his limbs. His mother, Ellie Hayes, thanked first responders, the hospital and the local community for their support, describing her son as brave and compassionate and calling his survival "a miracle." "I think it is a miracle and I think Keane is a miracle," Hayes said, adding that her son, an eighth-grader, enjoyed a cup of noodles and a donut Monday morning. "I think he's very, very, very strong, and he's a survivor now." On Saturday morning, the opening day of lobster season, Hayes said her son was "emphatic" about lobster diving with a friend. She watched them from a cliff. "He said, 'Mom, I'm going to make you a lobster dinner tonight,' " Hayes recalled. "So, he owes me one." Her son has already expressed a desire to go back in the water, the mother said, telling her that the chances of another shark attack would be especially low. He has also been asking for the three men and kayak owner who saved him. There have not been additional shark sightings in the area since Saturday, according to the city of Encinitas. Beacon's Beach and the surrounding area, La Costa Avenue to Swami’s Beach, reopened at 7 a.m. Monday. A GoFundMe page to help the family cover the boy's medical bills had raised more than $27,000 as of Monday afternoon.<doc-sep>
Lifeguards and police were using personal watercraft and aerial surveillance Sunday to continue their search for a large shark that attacked a 13-year-old boy near Beacon’s Beach in Encinitas on Saturday morning, leaving him with traumatic upper-body injuries. There have been no reports of a shark in the area since the attack occurred, but Encinitas lifeguard Capt. Larry Giles said people are not yet being allowed to go back into the water. “We imagine it could be a great white shark, but we don’t know for sure,” Giles said during a Sunday morning news conference. The injured boy was listed in serious condition in the intensive care unit at Rady Children’s Hospital on Sunday. Giles had no further information on the teenager, who was diving for lobsters on the opening the day of the season with his mother nearby on the beach when he was attacked. Swimming, surfing or diving is prohibited from Ponto Beach in southern Carlsbad to Swami’s Beach in Encinitas through Monday morning, officials said. That stretch of coastline remains open to the public, however, as long as they stay out of the water. Giles said Carlsbad police plan to use a drone to search for the shark, while lifeguards on personal watercraft continue to search in the water. Authorities posted 70 signs on Saturday warning people about the shark danger in the area, but Giles said 20 to 30 of the signs have already been stolen, probably as souvenirs. He said it’s a priority to determine what kind of shark attacked the boy, stressing that such attacks are highly unusual even though thousands of sharks frequent the North County coastline. “We have so many sharks out here in the water that are un-threatening to the public,” he said. He said Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach, was scheduled to come to North County on Sunday to speak with witnesses and try to determine what kind of shark attacked the boy and why it was in the area. Making that determination will help authorities better understand the behavior patterns of sharks and what risks people face in the region’s waters. Witnesses described the shark as being about 11 feet long, based on its silhouette in the water, Giles said He said the boy was fortunate that an off-duty state lifeguard and an off-duty Oceanside police officer were nearby in the water at the time of the attack. They pulled the boy into a kayak and applied pressure to his wounds. “They played a significant part in helping this young man and possibly saving his life,” Giles said. While there have been a dozen shark attacks in the region since 2000, this is the first in Encinitas in at least 30 years, Giles said. The last fatal attack was on April 25, 2008, when retired veterinarian David Martin, 66, was killed by a great white shark while on a triathlon training swim off Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach. david.garrick@sduniontribune.com UPDATES: 3:55 p.m.: This article was updated with new information from authorities about the attack. This article was originally posted at 12:05 p.m.