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A 3-to-4-foot-long shark bit a man attempting to swim the 20-plus miles from Santa Catalina Island to San Pedro early Tuesday in a “rare attack,” according to authorities.

The finned culprit “nipped” at the unidentified 54-year-old swimmer, causing non-life-threatening injuries to the man’s leg and foot, according to Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Adam VanGerpen.

“He was awake and talking and sitting up,” VanGerpen said of the swimmer. “He suffered only mild distress.”

Had the attack resulted in serious injuries, VanGerpen said, the man would have been taken to a trauma center. Instead, he was sent to a nontrauma facility.

It was not immediately clear what species of shark was

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