Industry News
Surf
Last week, the US Coast Guard spotted a group of 20 great white sharks off Pacifica and Ocean Beach, San Francisco, a strange gathering point for big sharks. Local swimmers, wind surfers, and kayakers are at an increased risk while out on the water in these coastal areas with these guys around.
This is scary because you’ve gotta remember – Ocean Beach has world class surf. Kelly Slater won his 11th (and likely last) World Surfing Championship here. One a sunny, windless, 5-foot wave weekend, there can be over 300 people in the water at OB…
Many of these sharks were reported to be rather large, between 10 and 18 feet long, and were spotted swimming only about 100 yards from shore. Lt. Beau Belanger was piloting one of the two coast guard helicopters that spotted the school of sharks on October 16th and he stated that he was “amazed” by what he saw. It’s a very peculiar situation to see this many large sharks in one place at one time.
Ocean Beach does lie within the “Red Triangle” a region in California where more great white shark attacks have occurred on human than any other place on earth.
According to David McGuire, director of Shark Stewards, a non-profit shark conservation group;
“There is no cause for alarm, but there is reason for caution when entering the ocean this time of year. An 18 foot shark is very large, mature shark and can cause considerable harm to seals or humans.”
Large sharks tend to be offshore of the Farallon Islands, Año Nuevo, and Drakes Bay at this time of year. The Farallong Islands are frequently visited by the largest sharks in the world – 22-foot long, 6-foot wide females known as “The Sisters.”
Generally, smaller juvenile sharks are plentiful along the coast at this time of year.
Many people attribute these great white sharks presence in this area so close to shore at this time of year to El Niño causing unseasonably warm water. Recently, San Francisco Bay experienced its first full-fledged great white shark attack on a sea lion that was witnessed by tourists.
