Southern California beaches are seeing more juvenile great white sharks sometimes within feet of unknowing surfers and swimmers, according to researchers at the California State University–Long Beach Shark Lab.
Such have been lingering along the region’s shores, especially over the last decade, as water temperatures have warmed, according to Chris Lowe, who heads the lab.
As many as 40 have been recorded at a time in what are called “shark nurseries” in the area’s shallow coastal waters, he said.
“I’ve been working in California for over 30 years, and I can tell you what we’ve seen in the last 10 is completely unexpected,” Lowe said.
The young sharks, he said, seek safety there from predators because they struggle to retain heat in cold waters.
Born around 5 feet in length, they first feed on smaller prey such as stingrays, which are abundant on Southern California shores.
The shark lab concluded a three-year drone surveillance study six months ago that had some astonishing results, according to Lowe.
“We basically found that people are swimming and surfing around juvenile white sharks every single day, somewhere in Southern California, and yet people aren’t being bitten,” he said.
So should Californians be concerned?
Not necessarily, Lowe said. The sharks seem to largely ignore people.
“The most we’ve seen in a single day is 40. At a single beach. In and around surfers. People [are] swimming [so] they can’t see the sharks in the water, but we can see them from the air,” he said.
And shark attacks are down, but there’s a caveat.
Studies from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife indicate shark attacks have not increased in California since the mid to late 1900s. They’ve reported just over 200 such attacks or encounters since the 1950s, with only 15 resulting in fatalities.
But, they report, encounters have gone up by around 10 each decade since the 80s, with 33 in the 2010s and 10 so far since 2020.
Historically, researchers have known sharks use coastal areas for nurseries, but only recently have they had the chance to see what a healthy nursery looks like, Lowe said, because they are proliferating after a decline.
“It’s a testament to the fact that California has done some good things. We brought some species back ... We’ve cleaned up the water. We’ve cleaned the air. We manage our fisheries better, so those are all signs of a healthy ocean,” he said.
A 1990 state law, which prohibits near-shore fishing using a certain type of netting, which has entangled some sharks, as well as protections for sea lions—a preferred meal for sharks—has also led to their growing numbers.
Researchers have yet to figure out definitively what makes a white shark nursery hotspot, with warmer temperatures and nearby preferred prey, just a guess, they say, so far.
Sharks can be in and out of different nurseries daily, with some migrating south to Baja California when the water becomes too warm or cool, Lowe said.
“Right now, we’re still trying to figure out what makes a hotspot, how long will it remain, and is [it] based on food,” he said.
One of juvenile white sharks’ favorite food is stingrays, which Southern California has in abundance.
According to Lowe, more people are stung by stingrays off the coast of California than anywhere in the world.
But, he said more white sharks could be good for the region, since attacks haven’t gone up and lifeguards’ data shows stingray stings have gone down, possibly from the hungry sharks.
