Video: Coast Guard Medevacs Shark Bite Victim off Farallones

On Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a man who was bitten by a shark while diving near the Farallon Islands, a protected marine sanctuary located 20 nm off the coast of San Francisco.

At about 1000 hours, the crew of the research vessel NorCal 1 notified Coast Guard Sector San Francisco that a diver aboard was bitten by a shark and required medical attention. The shark reportedly bit the man’s arm, wrist and hand.

The NorCal 1 got under way towards San Francisco and met the crew of a San Francisco Police Department launch, who took the man aboard and began administering first aid. A Coast Guard helicopter crew from Air Station San Francisco soon arrived on scene and hoisted the man into the helicopter with a rescue basket.

The helicopter crew transported the victim to Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto. He is reportedly in stable condition.

A spokeswoman for the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary identified the victim as Ron Elliott, a respected commercial diver and film maker with decades of experience in the area. He has encountered sharks off the Farallones before, as documented in his recent film "Near Miss" (below).