SEAL BEACH
HUNTINGTON BEACH
Great white shark spotted by charter boat 2 miles off Doheny State Beach
June 1st, 2008, 4:37 pm · 28 Comments · posted by Laylan Connelly
A great white shark was spotted two miles offshore near Doheny State Beach today by a whale watching charter boat.
Captain Chad Steffen said the shark, about 15-foot long, was cruising alongside the Ocean Adventure catamaran at about 2:30 p.m. when it caught his eye. A marine biologist on board also saw the shark, but by the time Steffen tried to swing the boat around for spectators to get a look, it was gone.
“It all happened within a few seconds,” he said. “We watched him swim behind us through the prop wash, he didn’t come back to the surface,” Steffen s
aid.
The charter boat waited around for about 10 minutes to see if the shark would come back, but with no luck.
“He was big. I do a lot of free diving and fishing myself, so I’m in the same water as that guy,” he said of the shark.
The sighting comes after a man was killed by a great white in April in Solano Beach in San Diego County just 30 miles south of Orange County. The 66-year-old was swimming with a group of people just 150 yards off shore while training for a triathlon when the shark attacked. Read more from that story here.
Check out the Google map I pulled together of all the recent OC shark sightings. View Larger Map
There have also been a number of Orange County sightings, with one surfer claiming his board was chomped on by a great white in Huntington Beach. An expert from the Shark Research Committee agreed. Read more here.
That was the first time in six years of working on one of Dana Wharf Sportsfishing boats that Steffen has seen a great white – and the only other one he’s seen in local waters was in Catalina. Run-ins with smaller Makos are more common, he said.
Steffen speculated that the increased number of shark sightings could have something to do with the colder-than-normal water. Great whites are more known for hanging out in Northern California.
“That could have something to do with what they’re doing here,” he said. “I was pretty excited, kind of shocked. You don’t see them very often at all.”
Doheny surfer Nyle Schafhauser said it’s pretty scary thinking about sharks out there, but surfers are on their home turf.
“They’re out there. It’s their ocean, what are you going to do?”
More stories from the Beach Blog:
State cracks down on San Onofre nude beach
Grunion run at Doheny delights despite the rain
Warmer water brings sea life out to play, including season’s first blue whale
Great whites off Newport Beach: photos from 2002
June 1st, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I really like a good pickle. So nice…
June 1st, 2008 at 6:58 pm
haha i went fishin in a kayak at dogeney today
June 1st, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Foresure it’s global warming. seen them in Playa Jocko. Bigger
June 1st, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Awesome, keep some of the groms out of the waves and the bobbers out of the way.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:19 am
yikes!
June 2nd, 2008 at 8:15 am
What?!!! As an avid surfer near Doheney State Beach and a local fisherman… knowing that a 15 foot Great White Shark is lurking that close to shore…. scares the crap out of me!!!!! I know they’re out there, but 2 miles is pretty darn close!!! …..As Mr. Brodey says in the classic movie Jaws 1…. “I think we need a bigger boat!” …My 12 foot aluminum just might not cut it anymore.
June 2nd, 2008 at 8:55 am
MMMMMMM……BOX!
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:19 am
Stayong out of the water. I wouldn’t go anywhere near the coastal waters of Southern California. I would catch less from a night with Paris Hilton.
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:29 am
You know,
We’ve been in the same water as they for a long time. Personally, I hope I never meet a great white up close (unless I’m in a cage) but we all run that risk every time we step foot into the ocean. As a diver, I’ve seen different types of sharks and they all tend to run when they feel they’ve been bothered. I’ll still be diving for many years to come. Just cause you can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there.
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:43 am
Riskier in Santa Ana! Go swimmin’!
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:53 am
I am a scuba diver and I frequently beach dive. Many times we need to surface swim over 100 yards to the reef. I think about sharks sometimes but I just try to stay ahead of my buddies when kicking out. Somewhere I read that sharks pick on the weaker, slower seals.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:27 am
Anything that will decrease the population of seals and sea lions would be great. Bring the great whites back!
Also they limit the amount of fake-surfers in the water. You know those guys who take lessons and tell everyone at work the next day that they are a surfer.
I know Captain Steffan personally and he is a really cool guy.
Taught him everything he knows.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:42 am
Oh my GOD! A Shark where sharks are found!!!! One time I saw a human in the shopping mall. We evacuated the area immediately.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:09 am
I just love all the blame on Global warming. If you believe that then why are the waters colder than normal?????
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:14 am
Ok here is the shark you kept looking for on Saturday
I guess he really is down there.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Why wouldn’t anybody, especially the authorities, just go out there and spear that shark before he eats somebody? When somebody gets killed by the great white, you guys would be writing sob stories and grieving and say you’re shocked that this happened at your beach.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:45 pm
I sail and have seen gray whales, a bunch of dolphins, seals, some wierd rays, and sea lions, but no sharks. Dolphins are great. I have a very strict policy that sharks are not allowed on the boat.
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:08 pm
el sharko esto muy
June 2nd, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I surf and ocean fish and do not care for these creatures in the water. Each time we catch a shark while fishing we put a slug round in it. Get rid of them all. No place for them.
June 2nd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Wow, a shark spotted in the ocean?? Imagine that!!
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:47 pm
It’s the goons in the water that are bringing on a slaughter. There’s gonna ba punch-out at Malibu, a punch-out malibu. But seriously, Doheny is more poluted than Paris Hilton’s toilet after a night out on the town.
June 2nd, 2008 at 5:52 pm
nothing much to worry about unless the sharkwas spotted in the lineup.
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:19 pm
What a bunch of wussies–great whites a’int sh–
June 3rd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
I caught him last night with 2 lb. test…ate him this morn in my fresca taco de pescado!
go surf doho now…everyone, especially the dorkass beginners trying to turn at the Trestle!
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:48 pm
2 miles out is in deep water. that is where they should be.
June 10th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
We were vacationing from Colorado and thanks to my Bro in Law for not telling us or we would have missed out on the 3 days of water sports fun!! we had a great time from June 3-6th never got to see the shark though- bummer.
June 24th, 2008 at 8:08 am
People, great whites are big but that does not mean they are strictly open water predators. In fact great whites are a species that patrols the coastal waters searching and hunting for their favorite snack - pinnipeds. So is not unusual to have them patrolling in near shore and encountering people that will find themselves in the line of fire.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
This shark thing is so lame, I have surfed HB for 38 years and have never seen a Shark dorsal fin, only dolphin, there are leopard sharks which get about 6 feet, but they are scavenger sharks and are harmless. Myself and most of my friends believe that the so called shark sightings are announced to minimize the crowds surfing their surf spots. HB is a sand bottom and there is nothing for a shark to feed on, there are no seals, and HB is not abundant in other sealife. Don’t get me wrong I have caught mako and blue’s from my friends boat but mostly in the Catalina Chanel.