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Shark takes bite out of surfer's board, but not her

MORRO BAY, Calif. - A surfer escaped injury on Saturday after a great white shark bit her board off California's central coast.

Elinor Dempsey of Los Osos, California, said she was surfing at Morro Strand State Beach, just north of Morro Bay, around 10 a.m. when a shark swam under her board and chomped on it, leaving an approximately 14-inch wide bite mark.

Dempsey pushed her board toward the shark as she jumped off.

Other surfers who saw the attack warned everyone else to get out of the water. Some of the surfers helped Dempsey reunite with her board, and she got back on it to get to shore.

Officials closed the beach for 72 hours and posted warning signs at nearby beaches.

Experts will analyze the bite mark and teeth pattern to determine the size of the shark.

Dempsey told the San Luis Obispo Tribune that she was shaken by her close encounter with the shark and might take a break from surfing.

Watch: Surfer fights off shark 02:03

Last month, pro surfer Mick Fanning survived a shark attack during the final of the World Surfing League's J-Bay Open in an incredible encounter that was caught on camera.

"I felt something grab, got stuck in my leg rope, and I instantly just jumped," a still-shocked Fanning said immediately after the incident. "It just kept coming at my board."

The Australian three-time world champion was lifted out of the water by a rescue jet ski mere seconds after the attack, which happened when he was paddling out to catch his first wave.

"I just saw fins, I didn't see teeth," he said. "I was waiting for the teeth to come at me. I punched it in the back."

After the attack, he told CBS News correspondent Debora Patta he will "surf again for sure."

"How many times do you drive your car and don't have an accident?" Manning said. "That's all it was. That was my opportunity and I got lucky."

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