An 8-foot great white shark was spotted circling a surfer at Newport Beach Thursday afternoon, prompting the closure of a nearby beach, authorities said.
With unseasonably warm weather and the start of the El Niño cycle, Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab Director Chris Lowe predicts these sightings are the start of a “very hot summer.”
Newport Beach Fire Department lifeguards spotted a large shark — albeit a juvenile — in the water off 35th Street at about 1:15 p.m. and ordered everyone out of the water two miles away. The Newport Beach Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department were notified, and a patrol boat was requested. The beach reopened at 5:45 pm
“Shark sightings are rare on our coast,” the Fire Department said in a statement before the beach reopened. “When observed, these animals often pass through the area. Out of an abundance of caution, we ask that the public avoid the water in this area until everything has been removed.”
Lowe, who has been studying the behavior of young great white sharks off the coast of Southern California for 20 years, was not surprised by the sight of his feathered friend.
“As we speak, a young great white shark is swimming under a surfer or swimmer somewhere in Southern California,” he said. “That one [off Newport Beach] was observed by someone, but our previous data shows that this type of interaction occurs all the time. “
Over a two-year period, researchers at Shark Lab used drones to study more than a dozen beaches up and down the California coast and found great white sharks congregating in two areas in southern Santa Barbara County and central San Diego County.
In those areas, sharks and humans were found swimming together 97% of the time.
Over the past 10 years, the lab has measured a large increase in the number of young white sharks that spend the winter in Southern California, Lowe said. Prior to that, great whites usually did not appear in local waters in significant numbers until spring or summer.
Lowe primarily attributes this behavioral shift to warmer waters from climate change.
Expect more shark sightings in the coming weeks as the Southland, currently the hottest on record, sees unseasonably warm waters. The region is also entering the beginning of a strong El Niño cycle, which will fuel unusually warm waters in the Pacific Ocean and could draw some unusual shark species like hammerheads to local waters, he said.
“The last time we had a strong El Niño was in 2015 and 2016, and we had a lot of great white sharks hanging around in the morning,” he said. “So I expect this year to be a hot summer.”
While the phrase “hot summer” may send shivers down some swimmers’ spines, Lowe doesn’t believe this is cause for great fear.
In fact, it may come with some benefits.
First, a large number of sharks indicates a healthy ocean with plenty of prey. It also means more sharks will eat stingrays, which cause about 10,000 injuries in California every summer, Lowe said.
But most importantly, he noted, shark bites are rare in California — especially considering the number of people swimming, surfing, kayaking or enjoying the ocean at any given time.
A great white shark sails off the coast of Carpinteria in 2023.
(Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab)
From 1950 to 2022, the state recorded 202 shark-related incidents, nearly 90% of which are believed to have involved great white sharks, according to the California Department of Fisheries’s Shark Incident Database. During that 72-year period, there were 15 shark-related deaths, 59 serious injuries and 49 minor accidents.
From 2012 to 2022, the most recent decade for which data is available, there were a total of 24 shark injuries and three deaths recorded.
Ongoing research at the Shark Lab suggests that there may indeed be a correlation between high ocean populations and very low shark bite rates.
“Because sharks are always around people in the water, we think they can identify people,” he said. “We don’t insult ourselves, they don’t take us as food, so they just ignore us.”
Scientists are still trying to figure out why, in rare cases, sharks will bite people.
“One of our favorite theories is that a shark mistakes a human for its natural flesh,” said Lowe, “so they confuse us like a sea lion or a sea lion, and they bite, they realize it’s not us, and they walk away.”
Sharks may also bite as a defense mechanism when humans get too close for comfort, he added.
A great white shark swims among surfers in Del Mar in 2023.
(Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab)
Fortunately, there are simple steps swimmers, divers and kayakers can take to stay safe at sea.
The most important thing, he said, is to stay in a group with other people. He also advises to refresh yourself in areas where there are lifeguards on the lookout for sharks and to avoid swimming or surfing at dawn or dusk when the rate of shark feeding tends to increase.
Lowe also recommends paying attention to the behavior of other marine animals nearby. For example, a sea lion or sea lion trying to get on a diving board is usually a good sign for paddling on the beach.
“That animal is trying to get out of the water for some reason, and usually it’s because it senses a predator,” he said, “so your arms and legs hanging out in the water are probably not a good idea for you.”
Finally, he said, don’t underestimate the power of your animal nature.
“I often tell people that I trust that little hair on the back of my neck,” Lowe said. “I think they communicate more with us than we realize.”
