From the wire: Surfer attacked by shark at Santa Rosa Island, California!

"A truly terrifying situation."

A thirty-seven-year-old surfer was hit by a shark, Saturday afternoon, while surfing the north shore of Santa Rosa Island, forty clicks from Dane Reynolds’ backyard in Carpinteria.

The as-yet-unnamed man was with a friend when the shark hit, biting him on the leg.

As reported by the VC Star,

Coast Guard officials dispatched a helicopter from their base at Point Mugu and a boat carrying a paramedic from the Coast Guard station at Channel Islands Harbor.

The helicopter arrived about an hour later and flew the victim to the Santa Barbara Airport, and he was taken via ambulance to Cottage Hospital. The victim was in stable condition with a tourniquet on his leg, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.

Ventura County firefighters initially responded to the scene by boat, but the victim was airlifted by a Coast Guard helicopter before they arrived, authorities said.

Lieutenant Benjamin McIntyre-Gibb, the Coast Guard community duty officer said in a statement: “This was the best possible outcome to a truly terrifying situation. This individual was fortunate to be with a buddy who was able to communicate their position to the Coast Guard.”

If you’ve ever been to Santa Babs, you might’ve stared at the Channel Islands out there on the horizon, these inconvenient land masses that block all the summer south swells.

Santa Rosa is the second biggest. Plenty waves, too, if you like ’em uncrowded.

No word on the type of shark involved in the attack.

Fact: Every fatal shark hit in California since 1981 has been from a Great White.

(Read about the thirty-dollar device that can save a surfer’s life even after a Great White hit here.)