Expert: Great White Shark Likely Killed Calif. Surfer

SURF BEACH, Calif. (Oct. 22) -- A 19-year-old surfer who died after getting bitten by a shark today off the Santa Barbara coast likely was attacked by the feared great white shark, an expert told AOL News.

Lucas Ransom, 19, a junior at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was attacked shortly before 9 a.m. PDT. Three beaches in Santa Barbara County were closed immediately after the attack. KEYT-TV reported that the shark bit off the surfer's leg and he bled to death.

The great white "is the likely culprit," said Steve Blair, assistant curator of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, Calif., and a shark expert. "There is really nothing else I could think of in a normal course of events who would do this except a great white."

Blair said only a dozen out of the world's 400 shark species could inflict a bite like that and great whites are known to troll the coast of California and swim close to shore in search of seals and sea lions.

"The method is to do a surprise attack, usually from below with great force and inflict one devastating bite and let the victim weaken," Blair said. "They basically swim around a couple of minutes before finishing off the prey."

The victim was boogie boarding 100 yards off the beach with a friend when a shark suddenly pulled Ransom under the water, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department. The animal was between 14 and 20 feet in length, which is consistent with a great white, Blair said.

The friend apparently tried to get Ransom out of the water.

"I think he [Ransom] was dead before he made it to shore," Lt. Julie McCammon of the Sheriff's Department told AOL News.

The shark was likely swimming around as the pair fled from the water, Blair said.

Swimmers should stay out of the water in the area, but it's unlikely that the shark is out hunting humans, he added.

"The shark has likely moved on and is very far away by now," Blair said. "But if it's still in the area looking for seals and sea lions and comes across another swimmer, there's no reason why lightning couldn't strike twice."

The last great white shark fatality in California was two years ago, when a triathlete swimmer was bitten in the leg off the coast of San Diego. He died a short time later from blood loss.

Ransom was a chemical engineering major, according to the school's news director, George Foulsham. He was from Riverside County, just outside Los Angeles.

The area where today's attack occurred is a popular surfing spot and is adjacent to the Vandenberg Air Force Base, which responded to the incident.