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Shark Attacks Kayaker In Waters Off Santa Cruz

SANTA CRUZ (CBS SF) -- The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office is warning people to watch out for sharks in the vicinity of Pleasure Point in Santa Cruz after a shark attacked a kayaker in that area earlier Saturday.

Sheriff's Deputy April Skalland said a 52-year-old Fremont man was fishing about a quarter of a mile from Pleasure Point at about 8:30 a.m. Saturday when a shark lifted up his kayak and attacked its front end.

The man fell out of the 13.5-foot kayak but was quickly rescued by a nearby boater, she said.

The man wasn't injured but his kayak was damaged by the shark bite, according to Skalland.

The man was in 40-foot-deep water just outside a kelp bed when the shark attacked the kayak, Skalland said. The man estimated that the shark was about 14 to 18 feet long but wasn't sure what type of shark it was, she said.

Skalland said the Santa Cruz Sheriff's Office wants to remind the public to be careful in and around the ocean.

She said there are sharks in the ocean near Santa Cruz but they generally stay in deeper waters and don't bother humans.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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