SAN DIEGO — DNA test results reveal the shark responsible for biting a 46-year-old man off the coast of Del Mar in June was a juvenile white shark, approximately nine feet long.
Dr. Chris Lowe of the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach told CBS 8 they estimate the shark was approximately six to seven years old.
He said the next step in testing would be to try and determine exactly which shark bit the man.
"This technique has never been done before," he said. "But our goal is, because we have the white shark genome, it is fully sequenced much like a human genome, and we can identify many of the genes, we think it's possible to do a 23-and-me type analysis to identify the shark to species. We won't know until we try."
However, the testing is very expensive. Dr. Lowe said state funding runs out in September, and without private donations, the Shark Lab may have to shut down.
The incident happened about 100 yards off the coast of Del Mar. Swimmer Caleb Adams suffered bites to his chest. He is recovering at home.
Dr. Lowe said it's possible they may never figure exactly which individual shark was responsible for the bite. However, with more research and more of these genetic tools, they can get a better idea of exactly how many white sharks are out there. Dr. Lowe said they can build a library of them and potentially start to better understand why they bite.
"We don't know why sharks occasionally bite people. It could be because they're in feeding mode and mistake us for food or it could be they bite us for defensive reasons. We know there are a lot of white sharks off Del Mar and Torrey Pines. They are aggregation sites. They're around people every single day, so if sharks are being scared, why aren't they being scared every day? Why aren't they biting people every day? We just don't see that," said Dr. Lowe.
He said white sharks can grow to as long as 23 feet, and they live anywhere from 40 to 70 years.
On July 20, the Shark Lab will host a free event for the public at 1250 Bellflower Boulevard in Long Beach. Dr. Lowe said it is a family-friendly event that will give the public a better glimpse of the research they do.
The Shark Lab is funded entirely by the state. Dr. Lowe said they are hoping private donations will help keep their work afloat until the state budget gets better. If you would like to donate to the Shark Lab, click here.
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