An 8-foot great white shark was spotted circling a surfer off Newport Beach Thursday afternoon, prompting an immediate closure of the nearby shoreline, officials said.
With unseasonably warm weather and the beginning of the El Niño cycle, Chris Lowe, director of the Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab, predicts this sighting is the beginning of a “very hot summer.”
Newport Beach Fire Department lifeguards spotted a large – though still juvenile – shark in the waters off 35th Street around 1:15 p.m. and ordered everyone within a two-mile radius out of the water. The Newport Beach Police Department and Orange County Sheriff’s Department were notified and a patrol vessel was requested. The beach area reopened at 5:45 p.m.
“Shark sightings at our beaches are rare,” the department said in a statement ahead of the beach’s reopening. “When observed, these animals are generally passing through the area. Out of an abundance of caution, we urge the public to avoid water in this area until the all-clear is given.”
Lowe, who has been studying the behavior of juvenile great white sharks off the Southern California coast for 20 years, was not surprised by the presence of a finned friend.
“As we speak, a juvenile white shark is swimming beneath a surfer or swimmer somewhere in Southern California,” he said. “Someone did see it (near Newport Beach), but our past data shows these types of interactions happen all the time.”
Over a two-year period, Shark Lab researchers used drones to study more than two dozen beaches up and down the California coastline and found juvenile white sharks congregating at two locations in southern Santa Barbara County and central San Diego County.
In those locations, sharks and people were found swimming together 97% of the time.
Over the past 10 years, the lab has measured a significant increase in the number of juvenile great white sharks spending the winter in Southern California, Lowe said. Previously, great whites did not usually appear in local waters in notable numbers until spring or summer.
Lowe attributes this behavioral change primarily to the warming of waters due to climate change.
They expect more sharks to be spotted in the coming weeks as the Southland, which is currently experiencing the warmest March on record, is seeing unseasonably warm waters. He said the area is also entering the beginning of a strong El Niño cycle, which will make Pacific Ocean waters unusually warm and could draw other less common shark breeds, such as hammerheads, to local waters.
“The last time we had a strong El Nino was in 2015 and 2016, and we had a lot of juvenile white sharks,” he said. “So I’m expecting a hot summer this year.”
Although the phrase “Sharky Summer” may send a shiver down the spine of some swimmers, Lowe doesn’t believe it’s cause for any great concern.
In fact, it may even have some benefits.
For starters, a large population of sharks indicates a healthy ocean with abundant prey. It also means there will be more sharks eating stingrays, which are responsible for about 10,000 injuries each summer in California, Lowe said.
But most importantly, he said, shark bites are rare in California — especially considering the number of people who are swimming, surfing, kayaking or otherwise enjoying the ocean at any given time.
A great white shark hovering near the coast of Carpinteria in 2023
(Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab)
According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Shark Incident Database, from 1950 to 2022, a total of 202 shark-related incidents were recorded in the state, about 90% of which involved white sharks. During that 72-year period, there were 15 shark-related deaths, 59 major injuries and 49 minor injuries.
From 2012 to 2022, the most recent decade for which data is available, a total of 24 shark injuries and three deaths were recorded.
Ongoing studies in shark labs suggest that there may actually be a connection between the greater number of people in the ocean and the relatively lower number of shark bites.
“Since sharks are around people in the water all the time now, we think they can actually identify people,” he said. “We pose no threat, they don’t consider us food, so as a result they ignore us.”
Scientists are still trying to figure out why, in rare cases, sharks bite people.
“One of our favorite hypotheses is that sharks mistake humans for their natural prey, so they mistake us for seals or sea lions, then they bite, they realize we’re not and they go away,” Lowe said.
He said sharks may also bite as a defensive measure when humans get too close for comfort.
A great white shark swims among a line of surfers in Del Mar in 2023.
(Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab)
Fortunately, there are some simple steps swimmers, surfers and kayakers can take to stay safe in the ocean.
The most important thing, he said, is to always be in a group with other people. He also recommends recreation in areas where there are lifeguards watching for sharks and avoids swimming or surfing around dawn and dusk when shark feeding behavior is at its peak.
Lowe also recommends paying attention to the behavior of other marine life nearby. For example, a seal or sea lion attempting to climb onto a surfboard is usually a good sign of a swim to shore.
“That animal is trying to get out of the water for a reason, and it’s usually because it senses a predator nearby,” he said, “so having your arms and legs hanging out in the water is probably not a good idea for you.”
Finally, he said, don’t underestimate the power of your animal instincts.
“I often tell people that I trust those little hairs on the back of my neck,” Lowe said. “I think they communicate with us more than we realize.”
