It was unusual behavior, however, for the shark to come back and ram the kayak, which knocked her into the air and flipped the kayak over.

There have now been 148 confirmed shark attacks along the Pacific Coast since 1900, most of which are investigation, he said. Some, however, end up being predatory attacks.
A similar kayak incident happened in the ’90s, he said, when a kayaker in Northern California was knocked off and she landed on it. At first, she thought it was a rock – until it started moving. The woman got on another kayak to get safely to shore, since hers had huge punctures in the bottom of it.
In 1989, a woman who was kayaking was killed off Malibu, her body found floating off Oxnard.
“She had sustained one bite to her thigh, which removed substantial amounts of tissue and she bled to death,” he said.
The latest shark encounter comes after a slew of reports this year off Orange County waters, and after one man swimming with a group in Solana Beach in San Diego County was killed.

One surfer in Huntington said his board was chomped on earlier this year. A Dana Point charter boat reported seeing one just a few weeks ago. And just Saturday, a woman on an outrigger said a large great white followed a group as they paddled about a mile off Laguna. If you want to see more reports, check out this Google map of OC shark reports.
So are there more sharks out there?
Collier said there are a number of reasons we could be hearing about a recent spike in sharks.
First, the population of great whites could be rebounding. Great whites have been protected for 13 years, after they were hunted for profit in the ’70s and ’80s. After the movie Jaws, they became hot commodities, collectors willing to pay up to $25,000 for a jaw.
The Monterey Aquarium has been tracking a few great white sharks, trying to find out more about the elusive creatures. The first shark they held in captivity was caught off Huntington Beach, but they had to let it go after it started eating some of the other fish in the same tank. The shark was tagged and released so biologists could track behavior.
Collier said great whites come to Southern California to give birth. He believes they come here to feed on grunions, which have been seen in great numbers this year.
“Which is good for the grunion, but it’s also good for the predators that prey for them,” he said.
Usually, the mom sharks take off for colder water, but the pups stick around Southern California until they reach about 7 feet.
The water temperatures this year have been unusually cold, lingering in the 60s until a few days ago. Whether that is another reason why there’s been a reason for the increased reports is unclear.
“Like anything else, all we need is more money so we can tag enough animals to draw conclusions from,” he said.

Post from: OC Beach Blog

As you’ve probably heard by now, a man was killed yesterday just south of Orange County in Solana Beach by a great white as he trained with a group  of other swimmers for a triathlon.

First let me say – my deepest condolences to Dr. David Martin’s family. If you missed the story we wrote, check it out here.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about great whites off our shore here in Orange County. One guy from Manhattan Beach said his surfboard got nailed by one at Dog Beach in Huntington, and an expert confirmed that it was indeed a great white that bit into it. Read my interview with him here.

Lifeguards dismissed that claim as unverified.

Jacobsen said he was just a few feet from the shark as he snapped the photos. I would have been freaking out. Here’s how he described it:

” The most remarkable part of the experience was witnessing the shark’s speed. As we towed the whale carcass seaward, we would periodically stop to make sure the sharks followed. We would see the great white up to a quarter mile behind the whale, then in what seemed like only seconds it was hitting the whale. It did this through out the early evening. An almost full moon let us see the sharks after dark.”

These 2002 photos out of Newport show that they have  indeed been out there – especially if we put out a meal for them.  Big thanks to Sean Collins, chief forecaster of Surfline.com, for giving us a head’s up about the photos.

Here’s Jacobsen’s description of the photos you’re looking at:

“These pictures were taken in late August of 2002. The blue whale corpse was found at the Newport Harbor Sea buoy, located about 300 yards off the end of the West Jetty (The Wedge Jetty). Several sharks were eating the whale. The biggest was a great white that was over 15 feet long. The great white was between half and two thirds the length of the 30-foot lifeguard boat. We towed the whale corpse south, towards the 14-mile bank. At about 1 a.m. the whale was set adrift with several sharks still eating the corpse. The next day we found the whale with several sharks eating it. Video was taken. Eventually, the whale drifted to shore. We believe it is the same whale that was buried at San Onofre State Beach.”

According to stories, the great whites hung out in that area for a while. State Parks Superintendant Rich Rozzelle yesterday told me they posted signs warning the public about the sharks, and they were even given pet names (one of them was named “fluffy.”)

Collins remembers the sharks down at San Onfore.

“These white sharks eating the whale off Newport in 2002 obviously followed it to San Onofre where it was buried. But the whale oil in the water even after it was buried continued for months afterwards, ruining many surfers wetsuits. There continued to be multiple white shark sightings at the whale’s buried location in San Onofre for more than a year after it was buried, as well as new white shark pups in the area. Another pup was just sighted less than a month ago in the same area.”

I’m no expert, but it’s about this point that I’m going to mention that a few gray whales have been buried recently in Huntington Beach. Click here to find out where the latest one was buried, and here’s a blog I wrote from October when a 50-footer was buried at Brookhurst St.

Collins said that the mothers, or “sisters” as they are called, come close to shore to put their offspring. He said they like to come to locations where water is deep close to shore – such as Newport Canyon in Newport, Pt. Dume off Malibu, El Porto or Redondo in the South Bay and Black Canyon in La Jolla.

“These are the areas where there have been more sightings over the years, especially during late spring through fall when we begin to have grunion runs and increasing bait in the water,” he wrote.
 
I’m not sure how freaked out we should be over this, considering the chances of being hit. But I have to admit, I’m a bit nervous about going out in the water.  

Have you ever seen a shark? Share your experience in the comments section below.
 

Post from: OC Beach Blog