A Great White Shark That Attacked in California May Be One of the Biggest in the World

@californian.views Luckily, Steve Bruemmer survived the attack 😮‍💨 #california #news #shark #scary #crazy #nature #insane #water #ocean #animals ♬ Cornfield Chase – Hans Zimmer

Two standup paddleboarders reached Bruemmer first and another surfer came to help as well, according to KRON4 news. The bone was showing on his leg, though the biggest damage was on his stomach. The three people who came to Bruemmer’s aid put him on a paddleboard and got Bruemmer to shore for medical attention.

Bruemmer told Fox 59 that bite mark experts estimated the shark to be as big as 20 feet long, though the size was never substantiated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Females typically grow up to 16 feet and males up to 13 feet. Scientists say that’ll be near impossible to identify the specific shark, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, and there’s a good chance the shark will never be found to verify if it was truly as large as Bruemmer was told.

The largest great white ever recorded was a 20-foot-long female named Deep Blue.

Despite the headline making news, shark attacks are incredibly rare. It’s even possible to safely swim with the shark species that people typically fear most. Great whites on both coasts of the United States have a particularly rough reputation thanks to their size and tendency to do test bites of potential food (Jaws probably didn’t help, either).

However, when attacks do happen, they can be devastating, which makes Bruemmer’s recovery all the more incredible.