Report of shark sighting off Sunset Beach causes buzz among surfers

Many surfers who ride the waves at beaches in Santa Monica Bay will tell you they don't think about sharks. But photos shot this week by a longtime local surfer and surf shop owner have created a buzz about "Jaws" in the lineup.

The photos, taken Saturday morning by Randy Wright, apparently show a large white shark jumping out of the waters off Sunset Beach near Pacific Palisades.

"It was like, 'Oh my God,'" Wright recalled in an interview today. "I was really stoked ... It was definitely a fascinating experience."

Wright, who owns Horizons West surf shop in Santa Monica, said he was in his 10-foot kayak about 300 yards off the beach life guard tower when he snapped a series of photos capturing the animal as it broke the surface of the water. The shark was about the same size as his kayak, he said.

Wright said he was in the water as a volunteer for the the nonprofit Shark Research Committee, which conducts research on sharks and documents attacks against humans. He said he had heard that someone spotted a shark at the beach the day before so he went out the next morning about 8:30 with his waterproof camera.

"I was just  sitting out there in my kayak, not throwing chum or anything," Wright said.

Ralph Collier, head of the committee, said that sharks in that area are nothing new. With more people surfing and enjoying water sports, he said, the potential for shark sightings has increased.

"Those little critters have been out there for thousands of years," said Collier, author of "Shark Attacks of the Twentieth Century: From the Pacific Coast of North America."

The photos were posted on the committee's Web page, along with a report by Wright. Word spread after the sighting was mentioned in local TV reports and by surf blogs.

Officials with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which oversees lifeguard operations, said today that they were aware of the photos and assume they are legitimate.

"It's a healthy ecosystem out there, and we know there's sharks in the water," said Fire Department spokesman Matt Levesque.

The sharks, he said, are "not endangering anyone."

Still, some surfers said the shark shots have caused them to think twice when paddling into the water.

"It was a little chilling," said Guy Okazaki, a Venice surfer and surfboard shaper who saw the photos on the Internet. "That was a big critter. It could take your leg off."

As for Wright, he said he's been surfing for about 30 years. And he isn't going to stop now.

"I'm part of the food chain when I'm in the [surf] lineup. I could get bit," he said. "But it hasn't happened yet."

--Robert J. Lopez

Photo: Shark that Wright said he photographed Saturday. Credit: Shark Research Committee.

Comments

[Kathleen Ostridge]

We do also do have Mako & Leopard & Sand sharks at Sunset/Will Rogers. The lifeguards are versed in this reality. The Mako is the only other kind of shark that breaches (along the eastern pacific). They have different features. Their teeth jut out in a scary looking manner, their pecks and other fins are shaped differently, and the coloration is different. This is not a Mako. The Mako has rounded pecks, these are pointed at the tips - classic GWS shape and markings.

Another important point is that these sharks have been co-habitating with harbor seals who are also locals, and one of them 'Slippery' has been around Sunset for over 10 years, since it was a pup. 'Slippery' weighs 300 some odd pounds now, has a GF and this year they had a pup. The seals are spotted daily, everyone doing their same old thing !!! There is existing video of one of the GWS pups swimming towards a sea lion off Will Rogers that was floating on its back, and it veered suddenly away when it got about 10' close to it. It has done the same thing again and again to SUP padddlers.

The sharks eat fish. They are not at the size nor have the equipment (big teeth) to need or handle seals or sea lions for breakfast. The sharks are at Will Rogers/Sunset, as it has been the site of grunion runs for thousands of years.

Now up around Pt. Dume, you have open water current and a steep drop off into a trench - just next to the surf line. The wildlife is abundant here, and the parents of the junior GWS, have been seen there, little Dume/Paradise Cove and Leo Carrillo. These are 16' creatures and they do pursue marine mammals at these locations, occasionally.

So, if you see seals or sea lions swimming in a frantic big hurry and stressed out in those areas.....I would get out of the water and the way....and in a steady calm manner.

The rains are coming soon, and like every year, they will depart for cleaner healthier water for the winter.

[TuberRider5000]

That there is definitely a real shark, but it kinda looks like a Mako too.

[MisterPickles]

Okay people...I am a convert. I took a look at the series and well...they are entirely convincing. Sorry for my jump to a conclusion...it's just the internet and all, y'know?

Great shots- glad we've a fine finned friend in the lineup.

[Kathleen Ostridge]

These are not "teenage" GWS. They are still kids. Once they get up to and past 10 feet and have lost their baby teeth and are sporting new sets of big serrated adult teeth & increasing jaw strength (& hunting skills) needed to catch marine mammals...then, they become 'teenagers'. Teenagers, need a LOT of calories!!!! There isn't enough medium sized to fatty fish in the Santa Monica Bay to feed these guys once they make that change in size and teeth. They need salmon, dead whales, baby seals at rookeries, and so on. The chicken feed in the Santa Monica Bay - grunion, mackerel, lobster, sand shark, rays, sea bass....just will not cut it and instead of coming back in the spring - they'll head up the central coast...where the water is cooler, and there are better meals. The water currents are stronger, too. So, they really need to work their way up the coast as they mature. Teenagers make the most mistakes as they test things out...they learn by bumping things or taste biting.....and are just learning to catch / eat marine mammals.

Anyway, the biggest one at Sunset is probably the equivalent of a 8 to 10 year old human...and believe me, they are all very hip to humans.

Humans have shark week on TV, the sharks have Sunset for TV....

It is entirely possible that no bumping or taste testing of humans will ever happen at Sunset, as it is abundantly clear that these guys are fully aware we don't smell like fish or food already!!

So, I do believe that we are taking part in a special socialization process with the Will Rogers bunch, as they have learned we are not food by our smell, lack of fear, and so on.

All in all, it has been a remarkable spectacular rare experience and one that hopefully will lead to more education...and protection of the species.

And all of this in Spielberg's back yard.

Funny.

[WC in West LA]

I grew up in Southern California and never had any idea that these guys were around. We kind of took it for-granted in San Diego that there weren't any sharks around big enough to do any damage. (Any attacks that made the news always involved people way out swimming or kayaking) I'm wondering if this phenom of adolescent GW is new to the last few years, or if its just that they never made it as far south as San Diego? A lady got gummed by a baby GW in Carlsbad, which suggests they were all up and down the coast this summer and fall.

At first I got really excited by the idea of seeing a GW so close to a populated area (sunset and PCH? Un-Freaking Real!), but then I started to wonder: is this new population of GW pups feeding this close to rush hour traffic a result of their normal food source being inaccessible? I'm not worried about getting bitten, as it seems these juvy GW don't have any interest in humans, but what their presence implies about the general health of the ocean.

Kathy, you said you have seen this guy in the area for about four years. Any info on before then? Any surfers out there have any memories of seeing small GWs longer than four years ago?

It just started to rain so it looks like the warm water fish are gonna be gone for the year now--looks like I missed my chance this year. I hope they come back. I'd love to see one. (Without getting bitten)

[Jim Hegeman]

At first hand the photos do look Photo shopped. I have seen whites do this many times but it was up at the Farallon Islands off San Francisco. I work for a shark diving company called Shark Diving International (www.seesharks.com) where we take divers to dive in cages with white sharks. You can see sharks doing this on video on our website.
If these pictures are real and not of the darker colored white sharks in South Africa which also jump out of the water, it is rare. The reason great whites jump out of the water is due to the speed at which they attack an elephant seal from below. These are only adults that do this type of attack, usally up in northern Cali.

[cmhollahan]

the prediction for next year is a La Nina so there may not be much rain next year...

Anyway, this site is very murky right now and fish are the most likely target of these sharks, as most have noted. There are really "sand sharks" here. Did you mean Angel Sharks? There are a lot of those.

Soupfin Sharks are present and I've seen them feed in numbers, just as scary and fascinating. Leopards are not to be feared, they are aren't a threat to people.

I've worked in the water for more than three decades and the most dangerous animal is still humans. Mostly the idiots living near here who think they "own" this place.

Obviously the survivorship and reproduction of Great Whites is improving. The adults are getting more mammals and this means more young. When was the last time somebody was killed off malibu? Wasn't it two kayakers in the late '80s off Point Dume?