HUNTINGTON BEACH (CNS) - As authorities on Tuesday reopened a 1.1-mile stretch of ocean access in Huntington Beach -- closed due to shark danger -- a woman described her experience when she was attacked by a shark May 29 off Corona del Mar State Beach.
Fitness instructor Maria Korcsmaros, 52, was swimming more than a mile from shore -- training for a half-Iron Man competition scheduled for July -- when the attack happened.
"All of a sudden I just feel this big bite and I have my hands in the air screaming for the lifeguards,'' Korcsmaros told KABC-TV from her hospital bed.
She knew immediately she had been bitten by a shark, Korcsmaros said.
"Oh yeah, just the size of it,'' she said. "I mean, it was just like clamp on, clamp off, and I'm screaming don't come back, don't come back,'' Korcsmaros said.
Lifeguards were nearby and responded moments after the shark attack.
"I felt the gushing and the lifeguard had to put something on me and said, `Put your arm there and don't let go,''' she said.
Korcsmaros credited her fitness training to her survival.
"Because of my fitness and muscle mass'' the shark's teeth did not dig deeper, she said. ``It kind of slowed it down.''
No adult sharks have been seen in the area recently, prompting authorities to reopen the area.
An advisory remained in place, however, because of sightings of a few juvenile sharks.
At least three sharks about 7- to 8-feet were spotted during a check from the air and on watercraft this morning, but no more sightings of the 10- to 12-foot sharks that forced the closure yesterday, according to Huntington Beach Marine Safety Lt. Claude Panis.
Beachgoers can again access the 1.1 miles of ocean from Anderson Street to Warner Avenue, Panis said.
The sightings of the more mature sharks also forced Seal Beach officials to shut down its ocean access.
Panis warned beachgoers that the ocean is like any other type of wilderness and that they may encounter wildlife so they should stay alert to danger.
One mile stretch of Huntington Beach reopened after shark sightings
A one-mile stretch of Huntington Beach is closed again after multiple shark sightings.