Boat passengers hoping to get a glimpse at one of the many humpback whales hanging out off the coast got a surprise this week, getting up close with two great white sharks that made an appearance off Newport Beach.
The shark sightings included a young, 3- to 4-foot shark on Tuesday, June 9, as well as a much bigger great white estimated in the 10- to 12-foot range on Thursday, June 11, said Jessica Roame, marine education program manager for Newport Landing Whale Watching.
During the first sighting, “this little baby shark came right by the boat,” she said. Smaller great white sharks can be confused with another species, the mako, but footage was sent to shark expert Chris Lowe, who runs the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach, for confirmation that it was indeed a great white.
Lowe’s team has been tagging sharks off the Southern California coastline, continuing their study of the mysterious species as juvenile shark season kicks off.
While the sharks are known to gather in “hot spot” nursery areas such as South Bay, Long Beach, San Clemente and Huntington Beach in recent years, Newport Beach hasn’t had many reports of large clusters of young sharks hanging near shore.
“Sometimes, we see those little guys swimming in transit from one location to another,” Roame said.
Then, a 10- to 12-foot great white shark came up next to Thursday’s early evening whale watching charter. Roame said it had bite marks on its side, possibly a female who was bit while mating, but because of the murkiness of the water she couldn’t be sure.
It was calm, cruising next to the boat while passengers marveled at the rare, up-close sight.
“I’m so happy we were able to capture the sharks swimming so gracefully and peacefully,” she said. “They get such a bad rap.”
Great white sharks were heavily hunted until the ’90s, when restrictions on gill net fishing were put in place. Their populations rebounded after it became illegal to capture a great white.
At the same time, their main food source, sea lions, have also been protected – meaning there’s more food for them to eat. The younger ones like to come to shore to feed on stingrays and small fish, and swim in warmer, shallower waters.
“They are so important to our eco-system,” Roame said. “This is a success story, seeing them is a good thing.”
As the nursing season gets underway, there have been recent sightings near Capo Beach, San Onofre State Beach and the Manhattan Beach Pier. It’s unknown if sharks will again show up in big numbers this summer, as they did when El Nino brought warm water to the coast a few years back.
Meanwhile, humpbacks have been making a splash in recent days for whale watching charters off Newport and Dana Point that are now running again – at half capacity and with safety protocols in place such as face mask requirements and social distancing rules.
“It’s been a lot of action this week, we’re very excited about that,” Roame said. “Everything is back up and running. We are very excited to get back out there. From what I’ve heard from guests, everyone is super excited to get out as well.”
Charters are also running fishing excursions with similar rules and capacity.
In Los Angeles County, the latest amended health order by the county allowed for small boat businesses to run charters starting Friday, June 12, although all passengers must be from the same household.