ENCINITAS, Calif. (AP) – A teenage boy has been bitten by a shark at a Southern California beach.

Fox 5 San Diego reports the attack occurred around 7 a.m. Saturday at Beacon’s Beach in Encinitas, north of San Diego.

Witness Chad Hammel tells the TV station the victim was lobster diving.

Hammel says he heard screaming and then realized the boy was yelling, “I got bit!” Hammel was also lobster diving with a group, and they pulled the boy onto a kayak and headed to shore as the shark followed.

The group applied pressure to the wounds while beachgoers called paramedics, who put the victim in a helicopter.

A message seeking official information was left at a phone number for an Encinitas public information officer.

California’s spiny lobster season opened at 6 a.m. Saturday.

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