A long-distance swimmer said in the two seconds before a great white sank its teeth into his body, he "saw the eyes of the shark" as it bore down on him in the waters off one of Southern California's most popular beaches. 
 
 Steve Robles said he went into shock when he "felt the teeth clamping on to my thigh and ribs," but managed to get free of the 7-foot shark's jaws during the attack Saturday morning. 
 
 Robles suffered several puncture wounds. The shark was fighting to free itself from a fisherman's line near Manhattan Beach in Los Angeles, said fire rescue officials. 
 
 "It was a burning pain that was going down the side of my chest," Robles told ABC station KABC. 
 
 Robles was out for a two-mile swim with a group of friends when the shark suddenly appeared. 
 
 "It came from the bottom of the water. It came up to the surface, it looked at me and attacked me right on the side of my chest," Robles said. "That all happened within two seconds. I saw the eyes of the shark as I was seeing it swim towards me. It lunged at my chest, and it locked into my chest." 
 
 Robles said he grabbed the shark by the nose and pried its mouth open. The shark then disappeared, eventually breaking free from the line. Lifeguards were unable to find it. 
 
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 Nearby surfers helped Robles to shore. 
 
 "I was pretty much in shock and screaming the whole time," he said. "I was scared. More than anything, I was just terrified." 
 
 Robles was rushed to the hospital, where he's recovering. 
 
 "This was such a freak accident," he said. "I couldn't believe that it happened." 
 
 "We do see the sharks. They're here, and they've been around," said Scott Valor, who witnessed the attack. "There's never been a bite." 
 
 California State Long Beach professor Chris Lowe said there has been an increase in the number of great whites in local waters. He said sharks typically avoid areas that are heavily populated. 
 
 "Those are good places to swim," he said. 
 
 Fishing is prohibited from the Manhattan Beach Pier until Tuesday. 

 MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A swimmer was bitten by a juvenile great white shark that grew agitated trying to free itself from a hook a fisherman had thrown into the water off Southern California's Manhattan Beach Pier, officials said. 
 
 The man, who was with a group of long-distance swimmers when he swam into the fishing line, was bitten on a side of his rib cage around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, said Rick Flores, a Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman. The man's injuries were not life-threatening and he was taken to a hospital conscious and breathing on his own, Flores said. 
 
 Witnesses said the approximately 7-foot shark was thrashing around in the water for more than 30 minutes before biting the swimmer about 300 yards off the beach. 
 
 Eric Martin told KABC-TV that the shark's mouth opened and closed as if it was trying to shake the hook. 
 
 "We think the swimmer just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time," Martin said. 
 
 The fisherman cut the line, and a surfer put the injured swimmer on his board, taking him ashore with the help of Los Angeles County lifeguards. Paramedics began treating the man. 
 
 The victim's identity was not released. Flores described him as a middle-aged man. 
 
 The shark remained in the area for the next 20 minutes and then disappeared into the murky water, Flores said. The beaches remained open, but a mile-long stretch was temporarily off-limits to swimmers. Police also prohibited fishing from the pier until Tuesday as a precaution. 
 
 Shark sightings are on the rise at some Southern California beaches, especially in the waters off Manhattan Beach, which is a popular spot for surfers and paddle boarders. The beach also attracted large crowds on the holiday weekend. 
 
 "There's a sighting almost on a daily basis out here," Flores said. 
 
 Marine biologists say many of the sharks are juveniles learning to feed and fend for themselves. 
 
 Capt. Tracy Lizotte, a Los Angeles County lifeguard at the beach, told the Los Angeles Times that sharks usually avoid people and said the animal accidentally bit the swimmer because it had gotten agitated. 
 
 Shark attacks are rare. Since 1950, there have been 101 great white shark attacks on humans off California — 13 of them resulted in deaths, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said. 
 
 It's illegal to fish for great white sharks. It wasn't immediately clear whether the department was investigating the accident. A call to a department spokeswoman wasn't immediately returned.
– We suppose that if one is going to get bitten by a great white shark, a baby one is the way to go. Long distance swimmer Steve Robles is not only alive to talk about it, he's in stable condition after being bit by a 7-foot juvenile great white that was hooked on a fishing line. "It lunged at my chest, and it locked on my chest," he tells ABC News. "I was pretty much in shock and screaming the whole time. More than anything, I was just terrified." Witnesses and officials say the shark was thrashing around and trying to free itself. "We think the swimmer just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time," a witness tells the AP. Fishermen eventually cut the animal loose; NBC News notes that fishing has been suspended in the Manhattan Beach area, near Los Angeles, until Tuesday.