It’s been reported that a teenager was attacked by a shark early this morning near Beacon’s, a popular surf spot in North County San Diego. According to eye witness Chad Hammel, there was group of about 30 people in the water diving for lobster less than a 100 yards off shore. Hammel was on his kayak when he heard loud screaming. At first Hammel thought the victim has celebrating catching a large lobster, but when he saw a seal nearby and heard, “I got bit,” Hammel realized that a shark attack had occurred and paddled his kayak toward the victim, who was frantically swimming towards him for help. “There was a big ol’ wake of blood behind him,” Hammel described what he saw when he approached the victim, “He flopped on top[of the kayak] and his entire back was open. The shark hit him in the clavicle, ripped open everything in the back and the top teeth came down and got his cheek.” Hammel paddled the victim to shore with the help of an off-duty lifeguard that pulled the vessel while swimming. Hammel reports they were followed by the shark as they headed for the beach. The victim was then life-flighted to Rady Children’s Hospital for treatment. The attack was reported before 7 a.m. this morning and Beacons is currently closed. ABC News reports that the attack occurred in the 900 block of Neptune Ave. in Leucadia. This is a developing story, and we’ll provide more information as it becomes available.<doc-sep>The boy was fishing for lobsters on the first day of lobster season. A teenage boy attacked by a shark near San Diego had to be airlifted to a hospital on Saturday morning, according to the City of Encinitas Marine Safety Department. The teen suffered traumatic injuries to the upper torso and was listed in critical condition, officials said. The 13-year-old boy was up early on Saturday morning catching lobsters on Beacon’s beach in Leucadia, just north of San Diego, for the first day of lobster season when he was attacked by the shark, Larry Giles, marine safety captain for the department, said during a press conference. The teen was in water about 9 feet deep around 150 to 200 yards away from the beach, according to Giles. Three “good Samaritans” nearby — an off-duty Oceanside police department officer, an off-duty California state park lifeguard and a friend of theirs — saw the attack and were able to bring the boy back to the beach on a kayak, where they called 911, Giles said. “When the bystanders got there, he was conscious, he was above water… and he was talking all the way while he was being transported,” Giles said. “The shark was seen in the water by the bystanders ... it was in the 11-foot range,” he added. Giles said that Encinitas lifeguards responded to the scene relatively quickly as they were set to go on duty around that time, and immediately began providing basic life support. They were quickly joined by fire department and paramedics. The boy was airlifted to a local trauma center. His family asked officials not to identify the child, but provided the hospital with a photo of the boy to distribute to media outlets. After the boy was taken away, lifeguards began warning other people on the beach about the incident. “The No. 1 concern was public safety; there were multiple other divers in the area,” Giles said, noting that authorities got people out of the water as soon as they could. Since the incident, there hasn’t been any shark activity, according to Giles. However, he said that as a precaution, area beaches are closed for 48 hours and they’re asking people not to go into the water until it’s deemed safe.<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>
(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.