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SANTA BARBARA COUNTY (AP) — A body boarder bled to death Friday at a Central Coast beach after a shark mauled his leg, authorities said, prompting officials to close three beaches through the weekend.
Lucas Ransom, 19, was boogie-boarding in the surf line about 100 yards off of Surf Beach with a friend when a shark suddenly pulled him under the water shortly before 9 a.m., according to a statement from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
Ransom’s friend and others at the beach pulled him from the water, but the University of California, Santa Barbara, student had a severe wound to his left leg and died a short time later, the statement said. The shark’s chomp took out a 1-foot portion of the board’s side.
Ransom, who was from Romoland in Riverside County, was a junior at UCSB majoring in chemical engineering, school spokesman Paul Desruisseaux said.
The victim has been identified as Lucas McKaine Ransom of Romoland in Riverside County.]
The attack occurred between 9 and 9:30 a.m. at Surf Beach, west of Lompoc at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Officials ordered the closure of Surf, Wall and Minuteman beaches for at least 72 hours due to the attack.
Federal and State Fish and Game officials are working to identify the type of shark, which was described as being 14 to 20 feet in length.
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