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Lifeguards Shorten OC Beach Closure Following Possible Great White Shark Attack

NEWPORT BEACH (CBSLA.com) — Lifeguards reopened a stretch of beach Monday morning following a shark attack that occurred off the coast of Corona Del Mar.

CBS2's Kara Finnstrom reported officials have reopened the stretch of beach between Newport and Balboa beach piers.

At this time, the closure remains in force from the Balboa Pier south to the city's border with Crystal Cove State Beach.

Officials will evacuate any individual that enters the water in this area.

According to the Newport Beach Fire Department, a swimmer was bitten by a shark around 4:15 p.m. Sunday about 150 yards off shore.

Lifeguards located the distressed swimmer in the water and transported her to OC Global Medical Center in Santa Ana for treatment of injuries that were consistent with a great white shark attack.

She is believed to be between the ages of 40 to 50-years-old and is expected to survive her injuries.

"We do suspect the victim was bitten by a shark, but haven't been able to confirm that because we had no other witnesses and there was no reported shark sighting before the incident or after," explained Chief Lifeguard Rob Williams of the Newport Beach Fire Department's Marine Operations Division. "We are treating this as a shark-bite incident and are asking everyone to please stay out of the water in the closure area. We've resumed our search of the water by boat and a police helicopter will also be helping us."

The closure will remain in effect until further notice.

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