Marin County’s Stinson Beach was closed to swimmers and surfers after a great white shark was spotted Sunday night, according to national park officials. The shark, which was eight to 10 feet long, was seen about 7 p.m. about 125 yards from shore....Wait a minute - if visible sharks are less of a threat than the unseen ones, shouldn't you close the beaches when you don't see any sharks?!
The nearby beach in Bolinas, however, is neither a county nor national beach and when it is posted with shark warnings, it is usually done by local town residents, a Marin County official said. The water at Bolinas was crowded with surfers on Monday, said workers at the 2 Mile Surf Shop, which also posted the shark warning on its morning surf report....
Beaches in the area of sightings are usually closed for five days, which is the length of time a shark tends to stay in an area to feed....Peter Klimley of Petaluma, a shark behaviorist at UC Davis, said this is the time of year that great white sharks arrive on the North Coast to feed on seals and sea lions.... Klimley also said that a great white traveling on the surface is usually on its way somewhere and less of a threat than one submerged, which is how they hunt their prey. "I do think closing beaches is a good idea,” Klimley said.
Closed Stinson Beach is in the foreground of the photo, and open Bolinas is in the upper left, just across the lagoon. But no doubt the sharks will respect the boundaries.
On the opposite end of the fear spectrum, here's a crazy guy using a shark to tow in. Real or faked? Hmm...
I was at Bolinas a week ago to check out the surf. My nine year old son stopped to talk to a fisherman that was fishing for sharks. Well, it wasn't so bad when I found out he was trying to catch leopard sharks. It got a little more sketchy when my son found out he had hooked a white shark a while ago and the white shark broke the line. My son said that the waves in Bolinas really weren't calling out to him.
ReplyDeleteWas there a sighting in Linda Mar last week? I was in the water and two women were talking about either a sighting or an encounter.
Hmm, hadn't heard about a shark cruising Linda Mar. I like to pretend they never go there; too crowded (with people) and no (preferred) food.
ReplyDeleteI saw a dolphin there this morning though!