Shark reportedly bites surfer off coast of Santa Barbara

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - A shark reportedly bit a surfer Saturday afternoon off Santa Rosa Island in a “truly terrifying situation,” the Coast Guard said.

The 37-year-old man had been surfing during the attack, according to a news release.

A Good Samaritan aboard a nearby boat notified the Coast Guard and applied a tourniquet to his leg to prevent further blood loss, the Coast Guard stated. A helicopter crew flew the man to the Santa Barbara airport for treatment.

Coast Guard video footage posted on Twitter shows the man, wearing a full-body wetsuit, being hoisted up from the boat into the helicopter.

“This was the best possible outcome to a truly terrifying situation,” said Lt. Benjamin McIntyre-Coble the Coast Guard Sector-Los Angeles Long Beach command duty officer in the release.

The patient is said to be in stable condition. The type or size of the shark is not known.

FOX 11’s Alexi Chidbachian contributed to this report