A FEMALE triathlete is feared to have been mauled by a shark after vanishing off the coast of California. 

Erica Fox, 55, was with a group of 15 swimmers in the water on Sunday afternoon but failed to return to the shoreline.

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Erica Fox, a triathlete, is feared to have been mauled by a shark after vanishing off the coast of CaliforniaCredit: Facebook
U.S. Coast Guard boat at sea with land in the background.
Coast Guard officials spent 15 hours searching for Fox before suspending their missionCredit: NBC
She was swimming off Lover’s Point beach in Monterey when she vanished.

And, one witness claimed they saw a shark with a human in its mouth, as reported by SFGate

Coast Guard official Christopher Sappey said the person who spotted the shark claimed the beast submerged back under the waterline.

Others said they rushed back to shore after there was a large splash in the water.

Fox’s disappearance sparked an urgent search.

Pacific Grove cops and Coast Guard officials searched around 84 square nautical miles before pausing the search.

The search was suspended after 15 hours.

Tributes have been paid to Fox, an avid swimmer who created the Kelp Krawlers swimming group.

Her dad, James, has been left devastated by what unfolded.

“Erica was doing something yesterday that she really loved,” he told NBC News.

“Swimming was just her forte.”

James described his daughter as someone who was wonderful and caring.

Sharon Carey, a member of the swimming club, has been left numb by the tragedy.

“I was hoping that maybe she got out of the water and then decided to walk back,” she told The Mercury News.

In 2013, Fox re-shared a Facebook post that claimed scuba divers were more dangerous than a shark.

The post showed a diver and shark side by side.

“This is the most dangerous animal in the world, and by his side, a shark swims peacefully,” the caption said.

In 2022, Fox told The Independent she felt more at risk cycling than being in the water.

She described humans as the “ocean ecology’s humbled guests.”

Throughout her career, she competed in two Ironman challenges and several triathlons.

For 20 years, she participated in a triathlon titled Escape from Alcatraz.

Fox was reportedly attacked just three years after Steve Bruemmer survived a shark attack near Lover’s Point.

Doctors said the shark was just millimeters away from severing one of Bruemmer’s major arteries.

“It grabbed me and pulled me up, then it dove me down in the water, then it spit me out,” Bruemmer told the ABC affiliate KGO in July 2022.

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Fox competed in Ironman competitionsCredit: Facebook
A person in a safety vest and hard hat observes a rescue boat in the water, framed by rocks in the foreground and a news banner stating "SEARCH FOR MISSING SWIMMER IN POSSIBLE SHARK ATTACK" at the bottom.
The suspected attack happened off Lovers Point beachCredit: KSBW