Increasing Shark Encounters Might Not Be A Fluke

It was the summer of the shark.

More than a dozen great whites lingered just outside the Seal Beach surfline for months.

For the first time in decades, great whites and hammerheads closed beaches from La Jolla to Newport Beach.

A hammerhead shark bit a Malibu kayaker. Another ominously circled kayakers in La Jolla.

Finally, a great white mesmerized Alcatraz tourists, preying on a seal further into the San Francisco Bay than had ever been witnessed before.

If the warm waters of El Niño are to blame, will the sharks slip away after El Niño plays out? Or are we entering a new era in which shark encounters become common?

Both, most likely.

The unusually warm waters off the Pacific coast have attracted the great white sharks and kept them here during the winter when the juveniles typically head to the warmer waters off Mexico, according to Professor Chris Lowe, director of the Cal State Long Beach shark lab.

But that’s not the whole story. Once decimated sharks populations have nearly recovered, and it’s going to change how Californians think about the water, said Lowe.

“For 40 years we have had unfettered access to the ocean. We never had to deal with predators because they were gone,” said Lowe. “I think we need to recognize that these predators are coming back. When we go in the ocean, it is not Disneyland. Your safety is not guaranteed.”

Shark Protocol

As dawn approached on Memorial Weekend, kicking off the tourist season in Seal Beach, a dozen great whites patrolled Surfside just outside the surf.

For the first time in decades, authorities posted shark warnings for beachgoers in Seal Beach and neighboring beaches. In the coming months, encounters with aggressive sharks would close beaches in San Clemente, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, and Seal Beach.

“This is really the first time in my 15 years as a lifeguard that we have had to deal with shark issues on a regular basis,” said Nick Bolin, a lifeguard with the Seal Beach Marine Safety Department. “There are these white sharks in the area, and this is something that is new and unique to our area. We take these sharks seriously.”

Although they’re juveniles averaging just 5 to 8-feet in length, it’s hard ignore a dozen great whites cruising the shallows. The Seal Beach Lifeguard Department was quick to react.

The department bought a drone and used it almost daily to track shark sightings. It enabled the department to quickly determine if a shark warning should be posted or the beach cleared.

Signs of aggression from the sharks are a key factor, Bolin said.

Circling a person, charging, bumping somebody’s bodyboard or surfboard are all behaviors that trigger a 24-hour closure of the beach a mile in each direction.

Their protocol for closing the beach is the same used by lifeguards up and down the state.

In Los Angeles County, great whites are periodically spotted around the South Bay and Will Rogers State Beach, said Lidia Barillas, public information officer for the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

“We are looking at the size of the shark. Anything below 8-feet is juvenIle - they aren’t considered a threat to humans,” said Barillas. “We are looking at distance. How far off shore? Are people in danger?”

Even though it may be 8-feet long, a juvenile great white isn’t considered a threat to humans because it hasn’t yet learned to prey on large mammals.

A 10-foot shark, typically three to five-years-old, is big enough to feed on an adult seal and will begin feeding on marine mammals, said Lowe. Now is the peak season for adult sharks to feed on elephant seal colonies in the central coast.

“White sharks are unique sharks. They are warm bodied meaning they can keep their bodies warmer than their environment. The bigger they are, the more they can do that,” said Lowe.

Most of the baby sharks that have been lingering off the California coast, have never migrated south.

Lowe and his crew of researchers have been tracking a number of juvenile great whites that have been sticking close to the Orange and LA county coastlines for more than a year.

“The best evidence I have is that the last two winters none of those animal have migrated south to Baja but one, a two-year-old 8-foot shark,” Lowe said. “That, we attribute to El Nino because the water temp never got below 60 degrees.”

“The sharks are now getting bigger. They may be able to tolerate slightly cooler conditions,” said Lowe. “The bigger they get, the less likely they are to migrate. It all depends on feeding here.”

Back from the Brink

The white shark population was decimated decades ago by fisheries’ use of nearshore gill nets and the loss of their primary food source, said Lowe.

“Fisherman used to shoot sea lions, which they viewed as competition,” Lowe said. “Most of the seals were hunted to the verge of extinction.”

Thanks to the 1973 Marine Mammal Protection Act, “they’ve come back like gangbusters,” said Lowe.

A series of legislation from the 70s to the 90s such as the Clean Air and Water Acts along with the banning of nearshore gill nets have combined to bring marine mammals back from the brink, he added.

“It’s been really last 40 years that we have seen greatest changes to marine life,” said Lowe.

“That means we need to recognize that these predators are coming back. I think the public has been immune from having to deal with predators. Now that we have done everything to bring them back, we have to educate the public.”

Low advises people not to surf or swim alone alone.

“Stay in groups,” he said. “The most populated beaches have the greatest protection. We basically have to learn to share the ocean with sharks.”