Enjoy the Calif surf...and the Calif sharks

Murrmurr

Murrmurr

SF VIP
Location
Sacramento, California
It's that time of year, when millions of people start visiting California's sandy southern beaches. Probably 95% of those millions of swimmers, surfers, para-sailers and paddle boarders have no idea they're splashin' around in the very same water that hundreds of Great White sharks enjoy every summer. And like most Cali-beach goers, they're never far off-shore.

You don't see the sharks unless you're actively looking for them, or unless they come right up to you....they don't always swim around with their dorsal fin above the surface. Almost all of the hundreds of sharks hanging out in the Calif surf are juveniles, and they do sometimes get curious enough about you to come and investigate. Because, what do they have to fear?

(video is about 5 minutes long)

Looking forward to seeing you in our warm, sunny surf! :p
 

Very interesting and informative. Thanks for posting. Being from Santa Cruz, I went to the ocean. But I never went past the wave breaks. Wonder how many were out there?
 
Remy said:
Very interesting and informative. Thanks for posting. Being from Santa Cruz, I went to the ocean. But I never went past the wave breaks. Wonder how many were out there?
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Hundreds of them during the time of year when the babies have become juveniles. They come fairly close to shore to hunt and eat rays.

It would probly surprise most people to know there's only been 15 fatal shark attacks (and about 250 non-fatal attacks) since 1950. Not sure how many of those sharks were Great Whites. Most, I'm guessing.
 
Nathan said:
I was into surfing in high school when I lived in Hermosa Beach. Had a shark brush up along side me, I was 'somewhat' concerned at the time, but in retrospect it scares the crap out of me...
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I tried surfing. I wasn't very good at it. I preferred diving. I've seen a shark only once, and it was off in the distance headed away from me. I was usually bothered by seals while diving in the Pacific. They're playful but they will bite....really hard.

While I was down sling-fishing, they were mostly interested in stealing my catch. A seal mistook my thigh for a rock-cod once. Its teeth went through my wetsuit like it was wet paper. If I'd been bare-legged it would've taken a big chunk of flesh. It was August ('77, I think), but we were up north, near a town called Jenner, where the waters stay pretty chilly.
 
No problem there, because there's no way you'd get me in that cold water. The last time I actually went "swimming" in the Pacific, I was 10 years old.

Since then, I've never been in past my hips and the only time I got THAT deep was at Haystack Rock in Oregon and I got so deeply chilled, I was sick for two days afterward, feeling like I had the flu. I was determined to walk around it and was in the water about 40 minutes. Never again!

I am just not a cold-water person. There was a time when I didn't mind chilly water, but that time's long gone.
 
A solid five minutes nineteen seconds of ... NOPE
Didn't see any waves for that "surfer" either

Aboard ships and out in the middle of the ocean, the Captain would sometimes stop the ship and announce Swim Call. Usually on a Sunday afternoon. Every single time, I would jump off the side of the ship for a swim. It was a wonderful break from routine.

During swim calls, gunners mates were posted with rifles to help repel any sharks ... should there ever happen to be any. The thing is, those rifles were false protection. May as well have been holding up "Go Away" signs. When bullets hit water, not only do they slow down rapidly but often change course. And not only that but water reflection plays tricks and the target may or may not actually be where you think you see it. I learned all that when I watched a gunners mate try to shoot a LARGE Swordfish that was quite near the side of the ship and shooting almost straight down ... missed every.single.shot. I didn't go for swim calls after that ... NOPE
 
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Great whites are not the mankillers the movies like to portray them as. For one thing, humans don't taste very good, LOL. Seriously, most sharks take one bite and then leave. Of course, that bite can be deadly - due to blood loss. Sever an artery and a human bleeds out in minutes.

Interestingly, one of the top 3 most dangerous sharks is the bull shark. It's one of the very few sharks that you can find in freshwater. They have been found in the Amazon and Mississippi Rivers, and even in lakes, such as Lake Nicaragua! Because of this, it comes into contact with humans more than any other shark, but because it's hard to identify, it's thought that a proportion of recorded coastal attacks is likely underreported.
 
Gary O' said:
This thread reminds me of something I put together in another life

View attachment 339496
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I used to do quite a bit of scuba diving....I can relate. 😂

In all seriousness, though, some sharks are curious (probly the younger ones) but they just like to be left alone so they usually keep some distance between themselves and humans. You don't wanna go picking up their food, though. Leave that stuff right where it's at, and move on.
 

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