Surfer killed in apparent great white shark attack at California beach

A surfer was killed in an apparent great white shark attack off the central California coast Friday, authorities said.

The incident occurred at the Morro Bay State Park beach before 11 a.m. local time, according to the Morro Bay Police Department.

The man was unresponsive after he was pulled from the water "suffering from an apparent shark attack," the department said in a statement.

A woman surfing nearby saw a boogie board and someone face down in the water whom she tried to bring to shore, Morro Bay Harbor Patrol Director Eric Endersby told ABC News. Morro Bay Harbor Patrol showed up shortly after and assisted in bringing the victim in, he said.

The surfer was pronounced dead at the scene and has not been identified yet, police said.

There doesn't appear to be any witnesses to the attack, Endersby said.

The bite, which will be measured by a coroner, appeared to be consistent with that of a great white shark, based on what responding officers saw, Endersby said.

The San Luis Obispo County Coroner's Office and state parks representatives were investigating the scene, police said Friday afternoon. A biologist with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife was also on scene, Endersby said.

The beaches in the area of the apparent attack will remain open but authorities have ordered people to stay out of the water for the next 24 hours.

Shark attacks are very rare, especially fatal ones.

There were 33 unprovoked shark attacks on humans in the United States last year, three of which were fatal, according to data from the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida.

Nearly half of the unprovoked attacks occurred in Florida. The fatalities were in California, Hawaii and Maine.

ABC News' Nicholas Kerr contributed to this report.