A surfer has escaped injury after a great white shark bit her board off California's central coast.
Elinor Dempsey, 54, said she was surfing at Morro Strand State Beach, just north of Morro Bay on Saturday morning when a shark swam under her board and chomped on it, leaving an approximately 35cm wide bite mark.
Dempsey pushed her board toward the shark as she jumped off.
Other surfers who saw the attack warned everyone else to get out of the water. Some of the surfers helped Dempsey reunite with her board, and she got back on it to get to shore.
Officials closed the beach for 72 hours and posted warning signs at nearby beaches, said the beach's supervising ranger, Lisa Remington.
Experts will analyse the bite mark and teeth pattern to determine the size of the shark.
A US Fish and Wildlife biologist examined the board estimated that the shark was a 1.83 metre adult male.
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