The shark that took the life of surfer Ben Kelly off Sand Dollar Beach in Aptos on Saturday was a young adult great white, likely in the 10- to 12-foot range, and a gash to Kelly’s right leg caused him to bleed to death, according to witnesses of the autopsy performed Monday.
The Santa Cruz County Coroner’s Office released only the following statement Wednesday morning:
Cause: SHARK BITE TO RIGHT KNEE WITH DISRUPTION OF POPLITEAL ARTERY AND VEIN
Manner: ACCIDENT
According to witnesses, Kelly was surfing with a friend and approximately seven others when he was bitten on the leg and knocked off his board. He quickly got back on and began paddling to shore — as did his friend who was surfing further outside.
They used a surf leash from one of their boards as a tourniquet but couldn’t stop the bleeding in time.
“They did everything right,” said local shark expert Sean Van Sommeran, who has been tracking the great white population in Monterey Bay since 1990.
The two-mile zone from Sand Dollar to the Cement Ship in the Seacliff area of Aptos has been home to as many as two dozen white sharks — the majority juveniles — since 2015. It has been dubbed by local observers as Shark Park.
Van Sommeran, founder and director of the grassroots Pelagic Shark Research Foundation, was an observer of the autopsy. He provided these details on his Facebook account:
I attended the autopsy yesterday, the shark is almost certainly to be subadult white shark estimated to be 10′ plus.
Mr Kelly was on the inside of his friend while surfing on a shortboard. Kelly was seen by his companion to be pulled underwater amid commotion at Kelly’s board.
Kelly surfaced and immediately exited the water with companion however the bleeding could not be stopped.
Kelly had been bitten severely behind the knee cutting vital arterial.
Aside from the fatal cut behind the knee there were some less severe cuts on lower leg.
The other knee had a single tooth cut.
DNA and Xray will be used in attempts to recover potential teeth frags or shark tissue and pending final report.
Near the middle of what appears to be a single open mouth bite and grasp bite radius, Mr Kelly had a metallic car key tucked into small wetsuit pocket near bitten knee. It is unknown if that played any role or is simply coincidental.
It is most likely that a subadult shark 10’ft or over was cause of the tragic mortality and the juvenile and yearling sharks not at all likely to be implicated.
The shark most likely responsible for the fatality is of the generational category that has always been known to frequent that particular location prior to 2015 arrival of yearling and juvenile shark pups. Test results and lab report still pending.
As these sharks mature from subadult 10′-14′ to adult (14.5’ft and over) they change course and migration routes and begin to circuit the open ocean and deep sea and return seasonally to large seal colonies such as the Big Sur, ANI, SEFI and other well known seal and shark associated sites and seasonal way points.
It should not be presumed that the younger and smaller sharks we see in the Shark Park and La Selva areas will continue to hang out at these locations until they are 20 foot long massive dangerous sharks.
They rotate out as they mature and graduate to wide migratory routes mostly associated with pelagic offshores or coastal seal colonies that can support their energetic requirements.
