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Avila Beach, CA, Aug. 19 - Avid swimmer Debbie Franzman from Nipomo died Tuesday morning after being severely bitten by something in the ocean, possibly a shark.
About 8:30 a.m., 50-year old Franzman was swimming about 75 yards offshore near the Avila Beach Pier. When she was seen thrashing in the water, cries for help sent nearby lifeguards into the ocean. Despite the skilled efforts of the lifeguards, who had been participating in a competition nearby, Franzman's wounds were too severe, and paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.
Witnesses say the size of the wounds- a bite on her side and others on her legs led them to believe it was a shark attack.
Travis Warren, Witness
"Yes, it was a shark bite for sure," says Travis Warren. "I'm still shaking right now, it was very weird for me to see."
Pete Kelley has been swimming at Avila Beach for 30 years, and believes Franzman is the same woman he sees in the ocean near the pier all the time.
"I call her a cross-country swimmer," says Kelley. "She swims with her friends, and they wear full wetsuits and fins, and they go for long swims way out."
Marine experts are also studying the wounds to determine exactly what type of marine life is responsible for Franzman's death.
Franzman was in a full wetsuit and fins, and the Harbor Patrol says she was swimming in an area where there was a lot of small marine life, a sign that larger marine life might come along to feed.
"When you're swimming in a lot of bait, a lot of small fish, and when there's a feeding going on you could be caught in the middle of it," says Harbor District Operations Manager Casey Nielsen.
Debbie Franzman was a 14-year faculty member at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, and leaves behind a teenage son who friends say she was very close to.
An Avila Beach swim competition was scheduled for Saturday, with more than 150 participants set to compete in the four races, but after Tuesday's attack, organizers are canceling the annual event.
The Harbor Patrol, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department, and the Coast Guard have closed the water off Avila Beach, and swimmers are advised to stay out of the water near Pismo Beach. There have been nine shark bite fatalities in California since the 1950's.
http://www.msnbc.com/local/ksby/M319510.asp zeN
About 8:30 a.m., 50-year old Franzman was swimming about 75 yards offshore near the Avila Beach Pier. When she was seen thrashing in the water, cries for help sent nearby lifeguards into the ocean. Despite the skilled efforts of the lifeguards, who had been participating in a competition nearby, Franzman's wounds were too severe, and paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.
Witnesses say the size of the wounds- a bite on her side and others on her legs led them to believe it was a shark attack.
Travis Warren, Witness
"Yes, it was a shark bite for sure," says Travis Warren. "I'm still shaking right now, it was very weird for me to see."
Pete Kelley has been swimming at Avila Beach for 30 years, and believes Franzman is the same woman he sees in the ocean near the pier all the time.
"I call her a cross-country swimmer," says Kelley. "She swims with her friends, and they wear full wetsuits and fins, and they go for long swims way out."
Marine experts are also studying the wounds to determine exactly what type of marine life is responsible for Franzman's death.
Franzman was in a full wetsuit and fins, and the Harbor Patrol says she was swimming in an area where there was a lot of small marine life, a sign that larger marine life might come along to feed.
"When you're swimming in a lot of bait, a lot of small fish, and when there's a feeding going on you could be caught in the middle of it," says Harbor District Operations Manager Casey Nielsen.
Debbie Franzman was a 14-year faculty member at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, and leaves behind a teenage son who friends say she was very close to.
An Avila Beach swim competition was scheduled for Saturday, with more than 150 participants set to compete in the four races, but after Tuesday's attack, organizers are canceling the annual event.
The Harbor Patrol, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department, and the Coast Guard have closed the water off Avila Beach, and swimmers are advised to stay out of the water near Pismo Beach. There have been nine shark bite fatalities in California since the 1950's.
http://www.msnbc.com/local/ksby/M319510.asp zeN
