Vandenberg Air Force Base’s Surf Beach reopened Oct. 25 after a three-day closure, the result of a shark attack that claimed the life of a 19-year-old UCSB college student.
The attack occurred Oct. 22, just before 9 a.m. According to the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department, Lucas Ransom, a chemical engineering major from Romoland, Calif., and friend Matt Garcia were boogie boarding about 100 yards off the shore when Ransom was pulled off his board and underwater.
According to county officials, Ransom surfaced, bleeding profusely, and Garcia pulled him to shore and attempted rescue breathing. However, Vandenberg Air Force Base fire crews declared Ransom dead at the scene, a victim of a “massive wound” to his left leg.
“Our first responders were on scene to assist in rescue efforts,” said Col. Richard Boltz, Vandenberg AFB’s 30th Space Wing commander. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends.”
Ransom’s boogie board showed a 13-inch-wide bite mark, indicating a shark roughly 14 to 16 feet long. After meeting with a shark expert, the Santa Barbara County Coroner’s Bureau confirmed on Oct. 25 that the shark was “likely” a great white, roughly 17 to 18 feet in length and weighing about 4,000 pounds.
“The shark hasn’t been captured, we have no idea where it is now, and just being out in the wild, realistically we will never know 100 percent,” Sheriff’s Department spokesman Drew Sugars said. “But all the evidence points to it [being a great white].”
Sugars said he expects “no surprises” as the Sheriff’s Department works on a final report on the attack, which could take several weeks to complete.
During the closure period, Vandenberg officers increased beach patrols but reported no further shark sightings. Base personnel posted signs reading “Warning: Recent Shark Attack Swim/Surf At Your Own Risk,” while the county Parks Department placed similar warning signs at Jalama and Guadalupe beaches.
Beaches on base, including Minuteman and Wall, remained closed as of press time because of unrelated military exercises, Vandenberg officials said.
According to base officers, although great white sightings are common in the waters near the base, Ransom’s is the only known death to occur at Surf Beach as a result of an attack.
The county Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau last investigated a fatal shark attack in 1994 when a scuba diver was killed off San Miguel Island; the Bureau reported no other shark attack deaths on record.
Ransom’s family and friends planned a memorial paddle out from the Oceanside Pier in San Diego County for the afternoon of Oct. 28.
This article appears in Oct 28 – Nov 4, 2010.