'Summer of the Shark' May Not End

By PAIGE AUSTIN (Patch Staff)

It’s been the summer of the shark off the Southern California coastline. However, as summer heads to a close, the great white sharks of Southern California are showing no sign of leaving.

That may be because Southern California coastal waters, known as a great white shark nursery, are experiencing warmer temperatures. Cal State Long Beach’s resident shark expert Dr. Chris Lowe and his team are studying the sharks to see why they haven’t been heading south for the winter in recent years as they did in the past. To do so, they are tagging the sharks and installing underwater cameras for an unprecedented look at their behavior and migration patterns.

Al Jazeera America recently ran an in-depth report on the phenomenon.

“I am really excited, and the reason is because here is a population of animals that has been negatively impacted by people either due to fishing, loss of food or habitat for over hundred years,” Lowe told Al Jazeera. “I look at white sharks, the recovery of white sharks, as a sign that we have done some amazing things in bringing our ocean health back.”

It’s hard to miss the signs of their resurgence as well as their impact. Beaches have been closed due to aggressive run-ins between sharks and surfers. Seal Beach, bordering LA County has been forced to post shark warnings throughout the summer season due to more than a dozen juvenile great whites lingering just past the shoreline in Surfside. Some of the tagged sharks have been known to take trips up and down the South Bay all the way to Santa Monica.

While the sightings may be increasing, there have been no attacks in the region.

“What we are not seeing is people being bitten by sharks,” Lowe told Al Jazeera. “Which tells us sharks aren’t out to bite people. So we are hoping that the more we learn and the more we share with the public about what we learn, the less afraid people will be.”

Photo: OC Harbor Patrol