Triathlete killed by shark

My deepest sympathies to Dr. Martin's family...

SOLANA BEACH, Calif. - It was a perfect spring morning for an ocean swim.
With the sun shining in a clear blue sky, Dave Martin and his triathlon training group swam past the surfers at Tide Beach on their regular Friday course through cool glassy waters about 150 yards out.

Somewhere below, a shark — presumed to be a great white — was lurking, possibly on the hurt for a seal or sea lion. It struck around 7 a.m., charging at Martin from below and lifting him vertically out of the water, both legs in its jaws, its serrated teeth slicing deep, fatal gashes.

"They saw him come up out of the water, scream 'shark,' flail his arms and go back under," said Rob Hill, a member of the Triathlon Club of San Diego, who was running along the beach when the attack happened.

Martin, 66, was rescued by two swimmers who had been 20 yards ahead. They raced back and dragged him to shore in a little cove shielded by 50-foot bluffs. A lifeguard truck took Martin up to a lifeguard station on the bluff where he was pronounced dead at 7:49 a.m.

A terrifying but rare attackMartin, a retired veterinarian, was the victim of a terrifying but exceptionally rare attack. Only person worldwide died in a confirmed, unprovoked shark attack last year, though the annual average in recent years is about four, according to the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File.

Authorities immediately closed eight miles of popular beaches for 72 hours, heading into a warm weekend. Red emergency helicopters flew over the blue swells trying to track the shark, though experts said the chances of finding it were slim.

"The shark is still in the area. We're sure of that," said Joe Kellejian, mayor of Solana Beach, a quiet suburb of 13,000 people and million-dollar homes.

Martin's family members visited the lifeguard station in small groups, emerging in tears, before his body was transported to the county medical examiner's office. A man who identified himself as Martin's son answered the telephone at Martin's home a few blocks from the beach but declined to comment on the attack.