Large great white shark follows Outriggers about a mile offshore in Laguna
June 23rd, 2008, 10:55 am · 17 Comments · posted by Laylan Connelly, staff writer
As Keli Stevens steered the outrigger boat - with a blue-gray shark following close behind - she kept quiet and formulated a plan in her head.
If the big sucker shows his face, she’d jab him in the eye with the blade of her oar.
“It was gnarly,” she said. “I took a double take again. I thought, ‘oh man, he’s coming closer and he’s following me’.”
Stevens was on a six-crew outrigger boat about a mile and a half off the shore in Laguna Beach when one of the girls on the boat said she saw a shark fin.
They thought: no way.
Then, as they were headed back to Dana Point near Salt Creek beach, Stevens saw the fin sticking out of the water about 15 inches high, at a width of 10 inches. Stevens spent six years as a lifeguard, is an avid waterwoman, and used to go shark fishing with her husband, so she’s positive of what she saw.
For about half a mile, she stayed quiet so no one would panic and continued looking back at the fin, which stayed about 50 yards from the boat.
“When anxiety hits, people will panic and boats can flip… that’s when tragedy happens,” said Stevens, owner of Kelis Outrigger and Paddle Sports. “If you’re just cruising along, he’s going to follow. If you do (panic), he’s going to show his face.”
As soon as the crew slowed for a break, she gathered another six outrigger boats around.
“Do not get out of the boat,” she said. “Stay together, and hug the coast.”
They decided to skip out on rounding the red buoy on their regular 13-mile route, where sea lions are always hanging out.
“What was really interesting, there were no seals on the red buoy,” she said. “There’s always seals on the buoy. He ate them, or they went away.”
They headed back immediately, warning a surf-skier along the way to turn back to avoid the shark.
Stevens said she spends plenty of time in shark-filled waters, such as the Catalina channel and Hawaii. But she’s never seen a big great white this close to shore.
Another report just came in about a shark attack off Catalina over the weekend. The woman was knocked off her kayak, but not harmed. Read this detailed account.
Click here or on the map below for a listing of all OC’s shark sightings this year.
Laguna Beach Marine Safety Captain Kevin Snow said they received no reports of a great white, and there has never been an attack in Laguna.
“Obviously, there are sharks in the Pacific Ocean,” he said. “The ocean is an open environment and there’s dangers of going in the water.”
Snow said in the case of a shark sighting, the Coast Guard or Harbor Patrol would be notified to try to keep track of it. And if it came close to the coast, the beaches would be closed.
Register reporter Jon Cassidy helped with this report.
This sighting comes after a large number of sightings this year along Orange County’s coast, along with one man killed by a great white in Solana Beach earlier this year while he trained with a triathlon group. Just about a month ago, Dana Wharf Sportsfishing and Whale Watching reported a 15-foot great white just 2 miles off shore.
Read those stories here:
Great white shark spotted by charter boat 2 miles off Doheny State Beach
Great white sharks: Have you seen any? Check out our map of sightings
Shark kills swimmer in Solana Beach just south of OC - local beaches stay open
A shark’s tale… or not? Huntington surfer says board was bit by great white
Shark story continues
More stories from the Beach Blog:
Local Newport surfer steps up after shark attack
Rare sighting of killer whales close to coast
Kiraly inducted into US Olympic Hall of Fame
Paddle out held in surfboard shaper’s honor
the shark must be after some white meat.
crazy! they must be hungry.. I wonder what the closest distance a greatw white will get to shore??
Why does the first sentence say the shark was a blue-gray shark?
The shark probably just wanted somebody to scratch it’s back!
That shark probably wants some love and affection
M.W., Great Whites will come right up to shore and recently it was reported that a juvenile beached itself in San Onofre. There are places along our coast where they are more likely to come near shore. These include places where Sea Lions congregate and where submarine canyons come near the coast.
“I think we’re going to need a bigger boat”.
Why he does hang out around here ? Why doesn’t he go north to the Bay Area..there’s more action there for the likes of him.
I panicked just reading the article. Kudos to Keli S, braver than I could ever be in that situation.
For some reason the story on TMZ about the paparazzi being chased by the surfers popped in my head when I read this story. LOL
Ha Ha Ha-Keli got punk’d! That was a gag shark fin being towed on a string by one of the girls-she never actually saw the shark; just the fin sticking up and it stayed the same distance behind the boat until she let go of the string- I bet one of those girls is laughing her ass off right now!!!
Laguna must be the sharks old chomping grounds,
Just kidding!!!
There’s never seals on the red bell buoy. They are sea lions. There’s a difference.
They are out there. I run the beach at Salt creek every night. In the last two months I have found dead seals with large bites out of them. I have never seen this in SoCal before. I lived in the bay area and have seen this before but never down here. I think it is only a matter of time before another local attack occurs.
“There’s never seals on the red bell buoy. They are sea lions. There’s a difference.”
Not to a shark.
I hope the great white eat you hurley bras. Surfing makes them hungry. Me too. Bra.