Great white shark takes a bite out of surfboard

LOS OSOS, Calif., Sept. 1 (UPI) -- A California surfer attacked by a great white shark escaped the encounter without injury -- but her board wasn't quite so lucky.

Elinor Dempsey, 54, of Los Osos was surfing about 10 a.m. Saturday at Morro Strand State Beach when the shark bit a chunk out of her board, leaving a 14-inch-wide bite mark.

"I was sitting on my board relaxing. I saw a large object, it was the color of a dolphin," Dempsey told KSBY-TV.

"It bit my board, [I] realized it wasn't a dolphin... and I just turned around and just started swimming," she told the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

Other surfers helped Dempsey recover her board and head for shore.

Wildlife officials said the shark, which Dempsey estimated to be 7 or 8 feet long, was likely a juvenile great white shark.

Dempsey said she was "in shock," but the shark attack wasn't the worst part of her day.

"And I didn't get a wave," she said. "That's the worst part -- I got no waves."