Roughly a decade ago, during the time of the MLPA meetings, I wrote a letter to the editor of Western Outdoor News. The gist of my letter was that anglers were sometimes their our own worst enemies. At a time when public support of fishing was needed, too many anglers broke the rules. Too many kept fish that were too small, too many kept over the limit numbers of fish, and too many broke the seasonal regulations, i.e., for lobster. And unfortunately, too much of this was taking place on the piers where casual passersby could note the actions. It might happen as often on boats or kayaks but they were generally out of view of the public.

Not much seems to have changed in the intervening years. In fact, a recent incident at the Huntington Beach Pier once again brought down the wrath of the public on anglers—and especially pier anglers.

In late February a shark, probably a great white shark, was hooked from the pier, gaffed using a treble-hook pier gaff, and brought up to the pier to cheers from a crowd of interested onlookers. Pictures were taken and then, apparently, the fish was thrown back into the ocean where it probably died.

The entire episode was filmed by a visitor to the pier who then posted it to YouTube. Soon after someone showed the film to local lifeguards who then contacted the California Fish and Wildlife Department. By then the film had gone viral.

The headlines and reporting summed up the situation—and the feelings. “Possible catch of great white shark at Huntington Beach Pier brings state investigation.” “Video, selfies with baby shark caught off Huntington Beach pier leads to calls for penalties.” “Brutal Treatment of Great White Shark at Huntington Beach Under Investigation”—[the footage is disturbing—a rabid crowd jeers as the shark gets pulled up and placed on the pier.]

The comments that followed were predictable and give evidence of the problem—”Great White Life’s matter. These sportsmen’ need to be investigated, savages…” “This is not sport fishing but the gratuitous torture of an animal.” “Bunch of barbarians.” “The shark died… irregardless if released. If hoisting the shark onto the pier like that didn’t suffocate it, gaffing it in the gills killed it. Those idiots should’ve known better considering the heavy set ups they had.”

“The LA TIMES shows ‘anglers pulling a shark onto the pier as a crowd of people with cameras gathers to watch.’ I love the representation that these guys are anglers. Like they’re in any semblance of the definition a sports fisher. They are two thugs in California with nothing better do to with their time then hang out at a pier versus a bar and kill against the law a protected species that has way more class than these two excuses for humanity will ever have!”

“Protected species– not protected from morons.” “These idiots give all fisherman a bad name. That isn’t something to brag about it’s a protected species.”  “What is wrong with people, this is not the first time this has happened so don’t allow fishing off piers if government cannot control the situation.”

Understandably the Fish and Wildlife Department is investigating with a certain amount of caution. Was it a great white shark whose capture is prohibited? Was it a mako shark, which is legal to catch? Bottom line—does the department feel it can successfully prosecute the anglers for breaking the law? A lot of time and expense can be invested, and lost, if the department can’t prove it was a great white.

A quote in the Orange County Register from the Department of Fish and Wildlife gives evidence of the problem. Spokesman Andrew Hughan, indicated the caution. “It hasn’t yet been determined to be a great white. There are many sharks that look similar,” he said. “I would ask the public to be patient. We are working diligently, investigations take time. Just because everybody says it’s a white shark, doesn’t mean it’s a white shark. We are very well trained and experienced and we’re wildlife experts, but this isn’t ‘CSI,’ we can’t determine things overnight.” In time we will know their conclusion and what legal steps will be taken.

Judgement from local pier anglers was much quicker to reach a conclusion—one of guilt. Many were incensed and convinced that the anglers were seeking out the great whites. One of the regulars I talked to asked the question: “What does it say when an angler is using 12/0 to 16/0 hooks and a 200-pound wire leader? What else could they be fishing for? Given that new, more critical attention is now focused on local pier fishermen, especially those who target large thresher sharks and bat rays, there was little sympathy shown to the anglers under investigation.

The odds do seem to favor the notion that it was a great white. The catch of the (assumed) great white from the pier followed an unprecedented increase of great whites seen in the area during the past few years.

In 2015 scientists working with Chris Lowe of Long Beach State University, the local expert on sharks, spotted 21 great whites off of Huntington Beach and tagged 16 of the fish.     .

On Memorial Day 2016, an unidentified shark bit a woman swimming in the surf at nearby Newport Beach. She lived but evidence from the size of her wounds suggested it was a great white over ten feet in length.

2017, a new year and more sharks. On February 14 a (supposed) juvenile great white, just 6-7-feet-long, was hooked and lost from the Huntington Beach Pier.

On February 20 or 21 an 8-foot-long great white shark was reeled in by anglers targeting thresher sharks while fishing from the surf in Sunset Beach (near Huntington Harbor). The shark was released.

Just a few hours later on the same day the great white that has caused the current controversy was hooked from the Huntington Beach Pier. Its capture was documented on a YouTube video by Mike Hefner, a visitor who just happened to be on the pier that day. The YouTube video has now been seen by more than 100,000 viewers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp1xo0245KY

As mentioned, viewers brought the YouTube video to the attention of local lifeguards who then brought it to the attention of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The drama wasn’t over. On February 23, a helicopter crew spotted an 11-to-14-foot-long shark swimming 100 feet off of Bolsa Chica State Beach. A few hours later a 6-7-foot-long great white was spotted in the same area. In response, swimmers were banned from using a two-mile stretch of waters along the Huntington Beach shoreline.

None of this surprised regulars on the pier who have reported seeing great whites many times. Their conclusion was that the great whites were feeding on the sting rays in the surf area — and they may be right.

In regard to the capture of the shark at the pier, the questions are fairly simple. Was the angler targeting great white sharks? Of course not according to the angler. Did they know it was a great white when they saw the fish at the top of the water? Of course not according to the angler. Why did they gaff it with a pier gaff and bring it up to the surface of the pier?  They said it was too big for a net so they used the gaff but that doesn’t answer the question about bringing it up to the pier in the first place. Some witnesses said they tossed the fish back into the water after celebratory pictures although no one seems to know if the shark was still alive. Why did they release it if they didn’t think it was a great white? No answers that I’ve seen.

What should have been done? A quote reported by CBS Los Angeles gives the best response. “As soon as they have a visual of the fish on the surface and they determine that it’s not legal to fish for, they need to cut the line right way,” said Lt. Claude Panis, a safety officer with the Huntington Beach Marine Patrol.

What is not in question is the fact that great white sharks have been a protected species since 1994 and that their catch can result in a fine up to $10,000.  It’s also known that while most “shark” anglers on piers are seeking out thresher sharks, leopard sharks, or big bat rays there are some anglers who hope to catch a great white and purposely target them (and it can be hard to tell the difference simply based on gear).

The incident brought back memories of the controversy that took place at the Manhattan Beach Pier in May of 2015 when a great white shark was hooked by an angler on the pier. A swimmer than ventured out by the hooked shark and was, in turn, bitten by the agitated fish. No one blamed the swimmer or the fish; all blamed the angler who had hooked the fish (while fishing for bat rays).

The city exploded! The pier was illegally closed, hearings were held, and the city council issued several new city ordinances that were, in themselves, illegal. These included banning all fishing for sharks, prohibiting wire leaders, and prohibiting certain types of fishing line. The California Coastal Commission and the Department of Fish and Wildlife said they couldn’t do what they did but as of 2017 those rules are still in effect.

The situation at Manhattan Beach as well as an earlier incident was reviewed in articles I wrote for my kenjonesfishing.com blog.

Great Whites at the Manhattan Beach Pier?

http://kenjonesfishing.com/2013/12/great-whites-at-the-manhattan-beach-pier/

 Manhattan Beach, Sharks, Swimmers — Redux

 http://kenjonesfishing.com/2015/05/manhattan-beach-sharks-swimmers-—-redux/

Long term the situation made the city, anglers, and the state departments look bad. And, the situation has still not been resolved. More meetings are scheduled but progress has been nil to date.

As to the sharks, white shark versus mako, it turns out I had written an article on the differences in 2011.

 Great Whites & Makos

http://kenjonesfishing.com/2011/10/great-whites-makos-—/

Both incidents, the one at the Huntington Beach Pier and the one at Manhattan Beach have, unfortunately, made anglers look bad to a certain segment of society at a time when anglers need all the support they can get.  Some day we’ll learn.

The issues involved in these two stories do bring up the corollary question of what to do when you hook an illegal fish.It’s not that uncommon to hook illegal fish, i.e., garibaldi or silver salmon, but you need to know your fish and know what to do if you hook an illegal fish.

Sometimes you want to remove the hook or tackle from the mouth of a fish and for small fish like a garibaldi you might be able to net the fish and carefully remove the hook before putting it back down into the water with a net. For big fish like a giant (black) sea bass, a sturgeon, or a large shark simply cutting the line is probably the best answer.

As said though you need to know your fish species. I have my own species name for ignorant anglers—Knuckleheadus californicus: California anglers who through ignorance, or purposeful negligence, fail to follow California’s fishery laws. Especially egregious are those who purposely target and catch “illegal” species and whose actions lead to the death of those fish (even if attempting to return them back to the water).

Anglers today must know the species and must follow not only the rules but also best practices as far as catch and release and the proper handling of fish. Failure to do so not only can mean the loss of the fish but also the loss of support of the public who far too often sees anglers as harming the environment instead of people who usually are trying to preserve it.

Most anglers I know are ethical and support conservationist efforts but there are also those that don’t. It’s our job to reach out and teach those who are still acting like knuckleheads and harming the reputation of reputable anglers.

By the way, here’s one more article on great whites, a story I wrote after a lady was killed at Avila when she decided to swim by the sea lions at the pier. It wasn’t a wise choice since great whites like nothing better than seals and sea lions and a swimmer in a wet suit can look a lot like a seal.

Great Whites, Avila and San Luis Obispo Bay

http://kenjonesfishing.com/2011/07/great-whites-avila-and-san-luis-obispo-bay/

The stated goals were to discuss human-wildlife conflicts, pier/ocean user conflicts, possible solutions, and pier management strategies. The meeting was hosted by Heal the Bay and the California Fish & Game Commission.

The “Summit” was prompted by the “illegal” actions of the Manhattan Beach City Council in 2014. The council closed the Manhattan Beach Pier (state owned but managed by the city) to fishing for a 60-day period starting in July 2014. It then, in mid-August, adopted new, local, fishing regulations that differ substantially from the statewide fishing regulations established by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

• M.B.M.C. Sections regarding Fishing On The Pier

2.40.090 — Pier Fishing

It shall be unlawful for any person to:

(A) Fish with more than one (1) fishing line or cast out more than one (1) fishing line at the same time on or from any part of the pier, whether such line is attached to a fishing rod or not.

(B) Cast a line by swinging said line above the iron railing on the pier or by swinging or casting said line overhead from a pole or from the hand. Casting must be from below the level of the railing of the pier (overhead casting).

(C) Place, throw, or cast from the pier any fish or parts thereof (“chum”) or other debris into the water.

(D) Cast any line other than a monofilament line from the pier. A maximum forty (40) pound test line weight is allowed.

(E) Cast any steel, metal, or braided leader line from the pier.

(F) Cast with any hooks larger than a 4/0 or three inches (3”) in length by two inches (2”) in width from the pier.

(G) Fish from the pier using more than two (2) hooks on a single line.

(H) Clean or gut fish or other marine life on the pier.

(I) Fish from the pier with any fishing tackle, line, hook or other equipment in a manner that is dangerous to persons using the beach, the pier, or the water. Any person fishing from the pier shall comply with any directions given by the City’s code enforcement officers or police officers as may be necessary to safeguard lives, persons and property near or in the vicinity of any person fishing.

The rule changes followed an incident at the pier where a great white shark was hooked by an angler on the pier and then bit a swimmer. The city’s actions in closing the pier to fishing and imposing new regulations were done unilaterally and against the express instructions of both the California Coastal Commission and the California Fish and Game Commission.

Attendees at the conference included representatives from the California Fish & Game Commission, Heal the Bay, United Pier and Shore Anglers of California (UPSAC), The Sportfishing Conservancy, California Sportfishing League, Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, Surfrider Foundation, and representatives from the local Santa Monica piers—Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Venice, Santa Monica and Malibu.

Two presentations were given. The first discussed the recent Shark Ambassador Program, a survey of pier users and their catch done by Heal the Bay. The second was a presentation on Sharks of Santa Monica Bay by Dr. Chris Lowe of Long Beach State. Both were interesting although UPSAC had several criticisms regarding the Heal the Bay survey results.

The majority of the meeting concerned what had happened at Manhattan Beach, if there actually was a problem, and possible solutions to the existing conflict between the city and state. It was made clear that only the Fish and Game Commission can establish fishing regulations but it was also clear that a workable solution that avoids taking the case to court is preferable.

After considerable talk, considerable disagreement, and some agreement, it was concluded that further meetings will be needed and all participants agreed to meet again during the next few months. Hopefully by mid-summer 2015 a consensus can be reached on the best practices (and regulations) needed to meet the needs of the various groups sharing the ocean waters.

For a related article see the following —

http://kenjonesfishing.com/2013/12/great-whites-at-the-manhattan-beach-pier/

]]> http://kenjonesfishing.com/2015/05/santa-monica-bay-pier-summit/feed/ 0 http://kenjonesfishing.com/2015/02/largest-fish-from-a-california-pier/ http://kenjonesfishing.com/2015/02/largest-fish-from-a-california-pier/#comments Sun, 15 Feb 2015 05:41:42 +0000 kenjones http://kenjonesfishing.com/?p=6261 A frequent question over the years has been, “what is the largest fish taken from a California pier?” A 453-pound giant (black) sea bass is recorded from Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara in 1925 and there’s an unconfirmed report of a 600-pound giant sea bass taken from the Manhattan Beach Pier in 1929. Huge white sturgeon have been reported and an authenticated catch of a 194-pound sturgeon was made at the Vallejo Pier in 1980. Then there are the sharks and rays. Several 200-pound+ bat rays have been reported including a 203-pound bat ray at Stearns Wharf in 2004. However, the official record is only an 181-pound bat ray taken from the Huntington Beach Pier in 1978. There have been several reports of huge 7-gill sharks from a variety of piers but pictures show most to be under 200 pounds. And finally, there’s the 200-pound hammerhead shark reported from the Newport Pier. Even given the size of those fish, I have not been able to find any records of a fish approaching the following in size — a shark taken from the Newport Pier back in 1923.

Big Shark Is Snagged And Then Shot

Newport Beach, Oct. 30—A genuine “man eating” shark, fourteen feet long and weighing approximately 1800 pounds, said to be the largest fish ever caught from the Newport Pier, was hauled to land shortly after 2 o’clock Monday afternoon by Frank Claudenia.

The battle between the huge sea monster and Claudenia waged only for fifteen minutes when onlookers, realizing that the catch at the end of the line was of such nature that it could not probably have been landed, made for their homes for a rifle which which to shoot the monster.

R. J. Shaffer of this city, who had been fishing on the pier, was the first to reach shore and return with a rifle. He immediately took four shots at the monster. The last of the shots succeeded in hitting the “man eater” in a vital spot and he floated quietly on the water. A team of horses was secured to draw him upon the beach.

The news of the large catch soon spread and hundreds of persons from both Balboa and Newport rushed to see the huge fish.

Fishermen immediately had a considerable discussion concerning the species of the monster. Several declared that the fish was a mackerel shark and others declared that they knew it to be of the “man eater” species. One fisherman, who professed to know, declared that he had killed scores of this species which he generally found at a considerable distance from shore, and declared that this was as close to a “man eater” as he had ever seen if it was not a genuine shark of the “man eating” variety.

According to the version of the catch as explained by Claudenia, the monster had tackled several hooks of other fishermen but had succeeded in breaking their lines. The fish then took his bait which consisted of a three pound mackerel and started for deep water. While he held him others ran for a rifle and the huge sea monster’s life was soon ended.

The large fish has been hauled beneath the pier and will be preserved and kept whole for a while and will be placed on exhibition.

—Santa Ana Register, October 30, 1923

Within a few months the story had made it into newspapers throughout the United States. Herein one version, shorter and slightly different than the original.

Take Giant Shark On Hook—Sea Monster 15 Feet Long Weighed 1,800 Pounds

A shark 15 feet long, weighing about 1,800 pounds and 57 inches in circumference was caught off the Newport pier by Frank Claudenia. He had been after jewfish when the shark swallowed his hook. The big fish pounded the piling and put up a fight until he was shot with a rifle by Rube Schaffer. When the shark was finally brought into the surf a team of horses was hitched on and the fish pulled ashore. The fish is what is known as a mackerel or bone shark and is a sea scavenger. It is not of the man-eating variety.

—The Evening Standard, Uniontown, Pennsylvania, December 12, 1923

Of course some people might ask if the fish can even be considered a record catch? It certainly would not meet the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) rules or the rules used by the California Fish and Wildlife Department. And, if it was indeed a Great White Shark, it would no longer be a legal species to take.

Nevertheless, it is probably the largest fish ever taken by an angler from a California pier. Back in those days many anglers used heavy gear for the giant (black) sea bass and the combination of heavy tackle and a quickly procured rifle meant the landing of a true monster from the deep.

The fact that such large sharks inhabit the waters at Newport Beach should not come as a surprise. Several large sharks have been sighted and several large sharks have been caught by local commercial fishermen.

Another Shark Is Snagged At Newport Beach

Fred Gunther, known to his friends in Newport Beach as “Shorty,” apparently is out to break the world’s record for catching sharks with hook and line. Sunday he landed a 16-foot, 2500-pound man-eating shark, which he had battled from time to time, for three years. Today he pulled in a 10-foot hammerhead shark, weighing 300 pounds.

Gunther claimed that the shark which he caught Sunday was the one that got away from him three years ago, after the fisherman had speared it several times. He pointed to spear marks on the fish as proof of his story.

The shark caught early today was one of the most peculiar looking sea denizens seen in Newport Beach in recent years, according to fishermen. Its eyes are 32 inches apart. Gunter will exhibit his catches within the next few days and, in the meantime, he is out after more sharks.

 —Santa Ana Register, October 20, 1926

One of the most famous (and controversial) sharks taken in the Newport area was one caught approximately 100 yards out from the end of the Balboa Pier. Local commercial fisherman Ted Phegley in his 16-foot dory boat took the shark, an estimated 12-foot-long, 1,400-pound great white, on January 29, 1960. Although he was fishing for white seabass, he managed to net and capture the huge great white that, at the time, was considered one of the largest “whites” ever taken along the Pacific Coast. It was soon hauled into shore and hung up on block and tackle near the Crab Cooker Restaurant in Newport Beach. That weekend, crowds estimated at 20-50 thousand people swarmed to Newport Beach to see the “man-eater.”

I say controversial simply because of the size. It is based upon newspaper accounts that appeared at the time of the capture (and which are posted on the wall at the Crab Cooker). When I asked “Snookie,” our local Orange County expert to review the Pier Fishing In California section on Balboa Pier she sent me the following: “Ted Phegley’s shark was actually 11 feet, 2 inches long and weighed 775 pounds. He was assisted in the landing by the 40-foot commercial fishing boat Crusader who passed by, hove to and helped Phegley land the shark. They used a winch to get the shark to the top of the water and then looped a rope over its tail to make it immovable. It was taken to McCarthy’s Dock in Newport and hoisted and weighed still alive. It almost snapped a 4 x 6 dock rail in two with its teeth in a last effort to escape. This was the second great white for Phegley. The July before he hauled in a smaller one in approximately the same location.”

Now I know that some of you good readers think that newspapers are always accurate and filled with stimulating, factual information (which is, of course, never biased) but I have a lot of faith in “Snookie.” Whatever the size of the fish, (and there’s quite a measurable mathematical difference between 775 and 1,400 pounds) there is no disagreement that the fish was very, very big.

A Newport Great White at the Crab Cooker Restaurant

Today the fish is stuffed and hangs in the main dining room at the Crab Cooker Restaurant, just across the street from the Newport Pier. Sort of a stuffed fish watching humans stuff themselves on fish. If you visit the restaurant do make sure you view the fish and also look inside the mouth at the rows of teeth. Behind the main row of teeth are several other rows of teeth ready to slip down and replace teeth that the white has lost for whatever reason.

Great White Shark closes beach

Newport Beach (AP)—A 20-foot Great White shark approaching within 20 yards of one of California’s most popular beaches is a rare sight — proving enough of a scare to convince officials to close a five-mile stretch of beach.

The beach was reopened Friday morning about 18 hours after the estimated 20-foot Great White shark cruised within 20 yards of the shore and within three feet of a lifeguard’s boat.

The shark was eventually frightened by a helicopter sent to track it and swam out to sea, authorities said.

About 30 people were ordered  from the water near the Balboa Pier after the shark was seen roaming near the beach at 3:44 p.m. Thursday, said lifeguard Eric Bauer.

“We have verified it as a great white, about a 20-footer,” Bauer said. After confirming the sighting, water along the five-mile length of Newport Beach was evacuated, he said.

—San Bernardino County Sun, May 14, 1988

The woman who snapped the picture of her son and his friend swimming near a shadowy figure that resembles a shark said they did not notice the animal until they were on their way home.

The two boys didn’t realize they were so close to the sea animal until they got back in a parents car and looked through the digital camera.

A California mother wants to know whether the ominous figure looming behind her son and his friend in a viral photo was in fact a shark or merely a harmless dolphin. “It’s surprising that no one has been able to tell definitively what it is,” she told the Daily News. “It was just an insane photo. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time.”The woman, who asked to not be identified, said no one noticed the animal until they were in the car on their drive back home from the Manhattan Beach visit Friday. While perusing the photos, they saw what looked like either a shark or dolphin just under a breaking wave near the kids who were holding surfboards. The picture went viral soon after she posted it to Facebook and Instagram. But she did not expect news outlets to present the photo as if it were definitively a shark — when the jury is still out. “I’m overwhelmed to be honest,” she said. “I just hope it calms down. … This wasn’t shared to promote fear — awareness is fine but not fear.”

 White Pointer/Getty Images/StockPhoto

Great white sharks are reportedly not uncommon near Manhattan Beach. Some people wonder if the fearsome predator was actually in the photo or if it were a more friendly sea creature.

— Michael Welsh, New York Daily News

Most people interviewed regarding the story felt the picture is that of a dolphin.
_________________________________________________________________________________

However, the story reminded me of a recent revision I had made to my Pier Fishing In California article on the Manhattan Beach Pier —

In October of 2013 on one of my trips to Los Angeles I visited, and fished, the Manhattan Beach Pier. Soon after, I reported my visit on PFIC and was surprised that another PFIC angler had been at the pier and seen me that day. Amidst the post and reply (see below) it turned out that he had hooked a great white shark just a few minutes before my arrival. It stimulated an interesting discussion and brought back memories of an earlier thread and articles about the great whites at Manhattan Beach.

Date: October 21, 2013

To: Pier Fishing in California Message Board

From: Ken Jones

Subject: Manhattan Beach Pier Report — 10/16/2013

Manhattan Beach Pier — 11:30-12:30 — A few fish were being caught here, some mackerel and lizardfish. The snack shop worker said there had been an afternoon mackerel bite recently. Dumb divers were too close to the pier and I got into a long discussion with a local about why the city did not regulate the rules. Fish: two Pacific Mackerel, one Lizardfish, one Topsmelt, and one Speckled Sanddab

Posted by vmarquez

Were u to the right next to the sink wearing a Catalina shirt? That day we had a great white hit our bait at 11 am fought for 14 minutes.

 Posted by csmerril

I wouldn’t have posted that, if you knew it was a GW, it is the law to cut the line right away…

Posted by vmarquez

It’s ok, it took 14 mins to realize it was a great white plus we were with the biologist that works at Manhattan Beach and he wanted to make sure it was tagged before we released. It wasn’t but he cut the line anyways… plus by the way its illegal to remove them from the water not hook them. How r we supposed to stop them from eating our bait plus they fight like bat rays so u really can’t tell till u get them close enough.

Posted by Ken Jones

I was by the sink and I think I did have the Catalina shirt on that day. I wound up arguing Manhattan Beach regulations with the manager/biologist of the Roundhouse for about 15 minutes. We began arguing about regulations to keep people away from the pier (based upon the diver) and it evolved into an argument about surfers being next to the the pier and lifeguards asking anglers not to fish inshore when surfers are in that area. I’m going to try to find out if (1) there are regulations telling people to stay a certain distance from the pier and (2) if there are those regulations, why the lifeguards do not enforce the rules. I was told that surfers rule, most lifeguards are also surfers, and the rules would never be enforced.

Posted by vmarquez

Yea, I heard u guys arguing; he’s the biologist. Manhattan is always full of swimmers. We’ve been having good luck w/ mackerel and thresher sharks and we get to see great whites swim by; don’t usually take the bait though.

Posted by Ken Jones

I don’t think you did anything wrong. It often takes a while to figure out what you have on your line and in this case you did cut the line.

Posted by makairaa 

There is a reef just off the end of the pier that used to hold bass, halibut, and occasionally yellowtail and [white] seabass. I just wouldn’t dive there because of the number of great whites hooked there in the last 2 years.

Posted by Ken Jones

The divers and surfers don’t seem too worried about the great whites.

Posted by makairaa 

Most small white sharks are fish eaters, so the surfers don’t have much to worry about, besides the fact we could spend hours debating the IQ of many surfers. Surfing next to a pier where you can see people fishing right where they are surfing does not sound too smart to me. The spearfisherman on the other hand are in the water with a bleeding fish where there are 6 to 8 foot dangerous sharks. It’s their choice, but to me it looks like Darwin in action.

Posted by polishfromthedeep  

I bring a gun occasionally when I dive for lobster, shoot fish all the time, and bleed them on my hip. I’m still here and enjoy a much more intimate experience with mother ocean than anybody ON the pier.  You can call it Darwinism or whatever you want, but I call it totally worth it. Worth every bit of “danger.”

Posted by makairaa   

It’s not the shooting of fish while diving that I have a problem with. Its doing it while diving at Manhattan Beach Pier where at least 8 great whites that I am aware of have been caught in the last 2 years. On a side note, be careful about taking lobsters while possessing a spear. Some wardens consider that a hooked object because of the barb and cite people for it.

The earlier PFIC thread  dated to 2001 and was started by one of the sites strongest members—Mola Joe.

Date: June 5, 2001

To: Pier Fishing in California Message Board

From: Mola Joe

Subject: White sharks from a pier

I ran across this photo from a few years back that ran on the front page of our local newspaper. If I remember right, two whites were landed out of several hookups over a two or three week period. The sharks were hooked off Manhattan Pier and then the angler moved to the beach to fight and land them. I believe both sharks were released alive. No official weight, but just babies by white shark standards, maybe 200 to 250 pounds. The following year I also remember seeing something about another landed from this pier also. I heard that after the first two, these guys started chumming for them but were told to stop by the local lifeguards. I kind of see their point. It would really hurt the local economy to have some yahoo from Kansas wading in the water and come out with only one leg. Anyway, things have now changed as white sharks are off limits to fishermen.

Posted by gotem

Our buddy the Great White Shark is still on the protected species list, and rightfully so, but don’t let the status of them fool you, they ARE making a comeback. We will only see and hear of more ‘accidental catches’ and ‘mistaken identity’ attacks within this next generation. Count on it.

Posted by shorepounder 

Hey MJ, I was there for one of the catches. I was riding my bike on the strand and decided to walk the Manhattan Pier. Well as I get close to the end there’s this guy hooked up to something big. After I watched him for a while I thought he just had a big ray on and left the pier to continue my bike ride. As I was coming back around an hour or so later here’s that guy still fighting his fish. So I decided to watch him fight it some more. After a while the fish starts heading towards the beach and goes to just behind the breakers. Then it surfaces and yikes it’s a great white around 8 feet. The lifeguard started yelling at everyone to get out of the water and then everyone around started going nuts. Soon there were news crews, crowds, etc. The guy who caught it was a long time regular if I remember right and he looked familiar to me. Two total were landed and I heard the same thing about him being told not to chum anymore. The other thing is that I thought the second shark that was landed was tossed off the end of the pier… if so I doubt it lived after fighting that long, being beached, put into a lifeguard truck, and then dropped off a pier. I hope I’m wrong about it being dropped off the pier.

Posted by Snookie 

I happened to save the article about the two great whites off Manhattan Beach Pier. It was Thursday, October 29, 1987. The names of the fishermen that caught them were: David Bird, who assembles telescopes part time and Mike Walker, an unemployed construction worker. One of the sharks was 6 feet, 10 inches and the other was 7 feet, 10 inches. The smaller one weighed about 150 pounds and the other weighed about 250 pounds. The fishermen were fishing for bonito and mackerel from the end of the pier to a point 350 yards offshore. The smaller shark took 90 minutes to land. The bigger shark took more than two hours and ended up a quarter mile down the beach. No, they did not release these two sharks. They sold them for $150 to a wholesale fish market in San Pedro after they cleaned both fish and found the stomachs empty. These two sharks were still just babies. Manhattan Beach seems to be an area of birthing for the great white as well as the tiger shark. Later there was a baby tiger shark caught in the surf by a surf fisherman. No, not a leopard shark—a TIGER Shark.

Posted by shorepounder 

Hi Snookie, I guess this has happened a couple of times, because the one I saw caught and the other that I only heard about being caught later the same week occurred in the early 90′s. I’ve always been told that whites use the Santa Monica Bay as a nursery… seems true.  Snookie, do you have the dates of the article by any chance?

Posted by Snookie 

Dear Shorepounder, The article was in the L.A. Times, October 29, 1987, part II, Page 12, titled, JAWS AND JAWS II PROVE BIG CATCH OF THE DAY AT MANHATTAN BEACH PIER by James Rainey, Times Staff Writer. I have collected shark info since the late 50′s, but apparently I missed anything about the ones you know about. Ones the size of the ones mentioned are babies and still on a small fish diet. Their mamas are a different matter though.

Well, that meant I needed to search out the articles and found two from the Los Angeles Times, one from 1987 and one from 1992:

Manhattan Beach Has the ‘Jaws’ Jitters After 2 Great Whites Surface

Landing two great white sharks near the Manhattan Beach Pier was a thrill for fishermen David Bird and Mike Walker, but it created oceans of angst in a community where many residents seem to spend nearly as much time in the water as they do on land.

Lifeguards said word spread quickly of the capture last Friday of the two sharks–one 6 feet, 10 inches long, the other 7 feet, 10 inches–and many fearful beachgoers pledged to avoid the water.

Marine experts, however, said swimmers have nothing to fear from the fish, although they acknowledged that it is unusual to find sharks that large so close to shore.

Bird and Walker, both pier regulars, began casting for bonito and mackerel about dawn. After they caught an ample supply, Walker, 34, of Manhattan Beach baited his line with mackerel and cast out again from the end of the pier.

“I could tell it was something very large,” he said of the tug on his line, “but I thought it would just be a bonito shark.”

Ninety minutes later, at about 11 a.m., the two fishermen had to walk off the pier and onto the beach before dragging a 150-pound shark onto the sand. They immediately recognized the razor teeth and large head of the bonito shark’s more infamous cousin.

Minutes later, Bird, a 24-year-old from Torrance, returned to the pier and felt a strong pull on his own line. He fought for more than two hours and ended up a quarter-mile down the beach before landing the second great white shark, which was at least 100 pounds heavier than Walker’s.

The two friends cleaned both fish and found the stomachs empty. Bird then trucked the sharks to San Pedro, where they brought $150 at a wholesale fish market.

“It’s an anomaly in the sense that we don’t usually find animals that size caught from a pier,” said Ralph Collier of Canoga Park, president of a group known as the Shark Research Committee. “Unfortunately, none of us really knows very much about the life history of these animals.”

Collier said that an attack on humans is highly unlikely in Southern California. In the last 60 years, there has not been a single documented great white shark attack on the coast south of Point Conception, he said. Since 1975, there have been two attacks at the point, which is just north of Santa Barbara, and two more at San Miguel Island. None were fatal.

“Because a shark is caught offshore does not mean it is venturing into the bathing areas,” Collier said. “Human beings are not natural food to sharks, otherwise we would have daily reports of people being consumed by sharks.”

Great white sharks usually do not begin to eat seals and other mammals until they reach 12 feet or more in length, according to Donald Nelson, a biology professor at California State University, Long Beach. The sharks grow as large as 18 feet long and can weigh 4,000 pounds.

Attacks by the big sharks have been more common in Northern California, where great whites venture closer to shore. The last reported attack was off Tunitas Beach on Aug. 15, when a shark attacked a surfboard, injuring the hand of its owner.

Although many beachgoers were alarmed by the Manhattan Beach catch, some took it in stride, lifeguard Tom Hargett said. “They’re not worried about ‘Jaws,’ they’re more worried about the pollution,” he said, referring to recent sewage spills that closed the beach.

Walker, an unemployed construction worker, and Bird, who assembles telescopes part-time, were back on the pier fishing on Wednesday. “I’m real excited about it still,” Bird said. “I’d like to catchn another one.”

—James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, October 29, 1987

Hooking of 3 Great White Sharks Off Pier Stirs Debate: Some swimmers and lifeguards in Manhattan Beach are concerned that sportfishermen are luring creatures that might pose a threat to humans.

The recent catch of three great white sharks off the Manhattan Beach Pier has hooked anglers and lifeguards in a debate about whether sportfishermen should be allowed to bait waters near popular swimming spots to attract the creatures.

Swimmers were unharmed in all three instances, and marine biologists say the sharks were probably too small to be considered a threat to humans. But some lifeguards and local swimmers believe that by dropping “chum,” or cut-up fish, into the water to lure sharks to their hooks, fishermen may be endangering swimmers and surfers.We have never had a conflict between swimmers and sharks, but we don’t want to create one,” Los Angeles County Lifeguard Capt. Steve Saylors said Thursday.

The controversy was sparked on Aug. 31 when sportfisherman Mike Walker, a 39-year-old Manhattan Beach resident, hooked his first of two great white sharks in a week. Walker, who says he fishes shark for fun rather than for food, landed the shark on the sand just long enough to take its measurements–6 feet, 11 inches–before releasing the animal into the waves. “The lifeguard was fit to be tied,” one of his fishing buddies, Richard Bird, 65, of Torrance, said Thursday. “He couldn’t believe (Walker) turned him loose in the surf.”

On Sept. 3, Walker landed his second great white shark–this one slightly more than seven feet long. This time, the lifeguard on duty prevented him from releasing it. Instead, he asked Walker to reel it onto the sand and load it onto the back of a lifeguard truck.

The shark was then driven to the end of the pier and dumped into the ocean. It landed on its back and sank, prompting Walker and others to speculate that it had died.

Three days later, another fisherman caught a great white shark measuring 6 feet, 6 inches. The angler, whose identity was not known, killed the shark and cut it into filets, Manhattan Beach police said.

Los Angeles County lifeguards and some swimmers say they are particularly concerned because the fishermen use chum deliberately to attract sharks into the area.

“I think that’s crazy in a public swimming area,” said Catherine Yates, a 21-year-old swimmer. “It’s just asking for trouble.” Saylors said many lifeguards agree: “A lot of lifeguards would like to see it prevented for safety reasons, but we don’t have any demonstrated problem we can deal with at this point.”

After the first shark was captured, lifeguards asked Manhattan Beach police to check whether the city has any ordinances preventing fishermen from throwing chum near swimming areas. As it turns out, there is nothing in city or state law preventing the practice, according to law enforcement officials.

         “There’s no law on the books saying you can’t catch sharks,” said Manhattan Beach Police Lt. John Hensley. “We can’t do anything about it. It’s not illegal.”

Lifeguards have also sent police a memo asserting that they have some discretionary authority to regulate the activities of fishermen when it may endanger beach-goers. “On heavily crowded beach days, it is possible that a fish hooked off the pier will have to be landed on the pier or released (a safe distance from shore),”  the memo said. “We feel this is in the best interest of marine life and the bathing public.”

Hensley said police plan to meet with lifeguards to discuss the matter.

Walker, meanwhile, remains puzzled by the controversy.

The 39-year-old Manhattan Beach man said he’s been fishing for shark off the pier for years, and that he doesn’t understand why lifeguards are suddenly worried about it being a hazard. He insisted the sharks never go near the swimmers and denied throwing large amounts of bait into the water.

When he fishes for shark, he said, he usually cuts up one mackerel every hour, throwing the head and tail into the water and using a chunk of its meat as bait. “The sharks will be out here, but they’re not going to go onshore,” Walker said. Bird’s 29-year-old son, David, agreed: “It’s sportfishing and I don’t think they should prevent us from fishing for them. What would solve this whole thing is if the lifeguards would study (sharks) and understand the ones we fish for are really harmless.”

Marine biologists, who point out they know of no humans attacked by a great white shark in Santa Monica Bay, are more cautious in their assessment. Great whites under 10 feet in length eat bottom-feeding animals like small fish and crabs, they say. Only the adults, which can reach 21-feet in length and weigh 4,000 pounds, have been known to attack humans, they say. Most of the attacks have occurred in Northern California where seals and sea lions—the staple of adult great whites—breed.

“Small great whites) won’t rush up to somebody and bite them and kill them,” said Jeffrey Landesman, a marine biologist for Cabrillo Marine Museum in San Pedro. “But there is a chance that the small white shark might mistake a foot or something for a small fish. Although it has never happened before, you can’t say it wouldn’t happen.”

Agreeing is David Ainley, a marine biologist at Point Reyes Bird Observatory in San Francisco who is organizing an international symposium on the animals to be held next March: “Baby white sharks don’t pose a threat in that they feed on fish. Probably the people fishing are endangering white sharks more than they are (endangering) humans.”

Ainley said he believes El Nino, the warm-water current that upsets the ecological balance of local waters once every seven or eight years, may be responsible for the recent spate of shark captures off Manhattan Beach Pier. “El Nino disrupts the food web and forces predators—birds, seals and sharks—to find localized food sources,” Ainley said. “One of the characteristics of El Nino is that a lot of predators are forced close to shore to look for food.”

—Kim Kowsky, Los Angeles Times, September 11, 1992

 Both of those articles show that great whites have been visiting the area for many years. Further research showed that they seem to be becoming even more common (although there is no way to know how many sighting are of the same fish). Checks on the Pacific Coast Shark News websites revealed the following Manhattan Beach reports for 2012 and 2013. 

 2012: July 9, September 9, and November 8

 http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/pacific_coast_shark_news_2012.htm

2013: July 9, July 10, August 18, August 24, August 27, August 28, September 5, September 23, September 25, October 3 (2), October 10, October 14, October 15, October 16, October 25, October 26, November 2, November 7, November 8, November 9, November 16 (2), November 20, November 21, November 24, November 30

http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/pacific_coast_shark_news.htm

Great White shark rescued off Manhattan Beach Pier

Eric Martin and Valerie Hill, co-directors of Manhattan Beach’s Roundhouse Aquarium, left work on Monday at around 8:30 p.m. after a long day—summer camp in the morning and a board meeting in the evening. Walking down the pier, they noticed a fisherman with a heavily bent fishing pole. He must have caught an extremely large fish, they thought. “Someone got a bat ray,” Martin told Hill, as they walked up the pier. While he disliked seeing them get caught, it wasn’t illegal. He didn’t plan on interfering. That’s until he faintly heard someone say “great white.” His ears perked. “Let me see what this guy has,” Martin told Hill, as he strolled toward the fisherman. Martin leaned over to get a glimpse at the catch. Holy crap, he thought, that’s a great white shark.

            In fact, what the man had on his line was the fifth great white shark caught on the Manhattan Beach pier since 1980, Martin said. The shark—about five to seven-feet long and more than 100 pounds—was a baby, probably not more than a year-and-a-half old, Martin said. Martin determined the shark was female. “If it had been killed it would’ve been a tragedy anyways because there’re not a lot of fully mature great white sharks up and down the Pacific Coast,” he said. Plus, he said, it was beautiful. “They aren’t as dangerous as people think.”

The fisherman needed to cut the line. Instead, the fisherman was dropping a large, round net into the ocean. The line, Martin noticed, was assembled for shark fishing—a steel leader connected to a circle hook. “You have to cut the line,” Martin told him. “You cannot kill a great white shark. That’s the law.” The man allegedly refused. Martin explained that great white sharks were federally protected, and threatened to call the police. “If you don’t let me cut this line right away, you will go to jail and you will get a fine,” Martin recalled saying. The fisherman didn’t budge, Martin said. “I don’t think he understood the urgency,” Hill said.

Martin squeezed his way closer to the line, but was pushed out by three of the fisherman’s friends, he said. When Martin realized the fisherman didn’t speak English, he recruited a husband and wife couple fishing on the pier to translate. Martin explained that great white sharks must be swimming to breathe. If the shark’s head got caught in the net, it wouldn’t be able to pump water through its gills, and would end up dying and sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

Hill, watching the drama unfold, had to react. It was her first time ever seeing a great white shark—she wanted to document the moment. But the two parties remained arguing. She pulled out her iPhone. “Do I hit camera? Or police? Camera or police?” Hill recalled thinking. She called the police. “If it turns into a physical fight, and he gets punched, there’s nothing I can do about it,” Hill said, explaining her decision.

The man translating for Martin had a knife in his tackle box, which he handed to Martin. Within five minutes, Martin managed to cut the line, against the fisherman’s will. “He’s going to be mad at me, but I just saved his butt,” Martin said. “If you hook onto something big, the person’s adrenaline rolls. You want to catch it,” Martin said, adding that fishermen like taking pictures to prove and share their catches. “It could be an ego thing.” While Martin managed to cut the line, the hook remained in the shark’s mouth. Without the line, however, the shark could easily free herself from the hook. “She can cut that line like a piece of cake,” Martin said.

What followed the rescue was a learning experience for bystanders, Martin said. “We had other people coming up to us and asking us questions,” Martin said. “Is it common for this (to happen)? Is it safe? Why does a shark have to stay swimming? How long does it take for shark to actually start being mature to have babies?” Hill was happy to turn the sighting and rescue into a teaching experience. “Our goal is to educate as many people as possible about the ocean, the animals, and human interactions, both good and bad,” she said.

—Alan Tchekmedyian, easyreadernews.com, July 11, 2012

Great White Shark In Manhattan Beach Caught, Then Swam Right Under Swimmer 

It’s perhaps the scariest thing that can happen in the water. A great white shark swam right under a swimmer at a Southern California beach Tuesday.

The shark, estimated to be about 8 to 9 feet, was initially caught by an angler who was fishing for bat rays on the Manhattan Beach Pier, Patch reports. The area is very popular as a swimming and surfing spot.        

When the fisherman realized he had accidentally hooked the state-protected species, he called over Eric Martin, director of the Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab and Aquarium. Unlike the Manhattan Beach fisherman in July who reportedly wanted to keep the great white that he caught (prompting calls to the police), this angler willingly cut the big guy loose.

But before he did, Martin was able to snap the above photo of the shark with his mouth wide above. Then, in an amazing close call, the shark swam right under an unaware swimmer. The swimmer—who was not harmed—was about 6 feet tall, which is how Martin gauged the size of the shark.

Martin told CBS that now that great whites are federally protected, there have been more sightings in Southern California.

And even though some people get really scared, others “feel really blessed” when they see one, Martin told local online news site, Easy Reader. “This is a special thing,” he commented.

Just last month, a great white was also spotted at Venice Beach and another was spotted at Leadbetter Point, a popular surfing spot in Santa Barbara.

Despite the reported uptick in sightings, a recent estimate found that there are less than 350 adult great white sharks left off the west coast, partly due to sharks dying in fishermen’s nets. In an effort to save these sharks, nonprofits Oceana, Center for Biological Diversity and Shark Stewards sent a letter last month requesting that west coast great whites be listed as endangered species.

—Kathleen Miles, The Huffington Post, September 6, 2012

Great whites spotted at Manhattan Beach

Lifeguards today are keeping a close watch on Manhattan Beach after several sharks, believed to be great whites, appeared near the shoreline on Tuesday, prompting rescuers to briefly clear the water of some young swimmers.

Authorities say the sightings of what appeared to be baby whites measuring between four and seven feet in length is reportedly a series of events. On July 9, El Porto Beach, located near the beaches of Dockweiler and Manhattan Beach, was closed after a young great white was spotted near its coastline.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium quickly dispatched researchers to Manhattan Beach in an effort to learn more about the behavioral patterns of the juvenile sharks. “Their goal is to actually get them on the boat or pull them into a net and then tag them so they can do research,” lifeguard captain Kyle Daniels told CBS Los Angeles. “August is a great time to try to research them because they often come into closer waters to eat shoreline fish.”

With Labor Day expected to draw a huge crowd to Manhattan Beach to celebrate the traditional end of summer, officials stress the importance of exercising safety precautions while swimming, wading, snorkeling and surfing in the area.

“We have fully staffed lifeguard towers through Labor Day weekend and we’re encouraging everybody to swim near lifeguards,” Daniels told the local news reporting station. “We will continue to advise if we see more sharks and let people know that there are sharks in the area, but not to be too afraid.”

—Sharon Bush, Examiner.com, August 28, 2013

3 juvenile great whites sharks sighted ‘extremely close to shoreline’ off Manhattan Beach

Three juvenile great white sharks, ranging from 4 to 7 feet, were spotted off the coast in Manhattan Beach late Tuesday morning.

“There have been consistent shark sightings through the middle of July to now in the Manhattan Beach area,” said Kyle Daniels, captain lifeguard for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. “Nothing actually really happened.”

According to Ken Peterson, a researcher at Monterey Bay Aquarium, the sharks were “extremely close to the shoreline”—about 20 yards offshore—which he says shouldn’t pose any harm to beachgoers under lifeguard supervision as “they’re just out there with the other fish.”

However, the proximity was too close for the team of marine biologists and researchers, who had intended to tag the sharks as part of Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Project White Shark, a study started in 2002 to research and exhibit great whites caught off the California coast.

The collaborating team from Cal State Long Beach’s Sharklab, led by Dr. Chris Lowe, took to the coast on a fishing boat from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday to capture, tag and release juvenile whites. They commissioned a helicopter to assist in spotting the sharks, Peterson said.

According to Dr. Lowe, the team spotted the three juveniles between 10 and 11:30 a.m. but was unable to wrap a net around them. “The net has to drop to a certain depth,” Peterson explained. In a process called “pursing,” the sharks should be scooped out of the water using the net and put on a holding place until they are tagged and released, he said.

The team has tagged 100 animals since 2002, Peterson said, and has obtained “great data” about the animal’s migration habits and its use of the habitat. “There’s a lot of brand new information that’s coming out of this research,” he said. Daniels said he has noticed a trend of sharks sighted closer to the shoreline, but it’s not necessarily a cause for concern.

“We’ve been monitoring and they’ve been getting to the swimmers,” he said. “No one’s been hurt. We’re keeping a closer eye on it, and most people have been seeing them all summer.”

—EasyReaderNews, August 28, 2013 

Great white shark sightings thrilling, but also a good sign for species —Recent increase in shark sightings near Manhattan Beach is exciting for spectators and for researchers.

When Jay Dohner heard there were several great white sharks off Manhattan Beach last Sunday, he did what few surfers would do. He grabbed a camera, mounted his paddleboard and set off in search of the apex predators.

It wasn’t long before his helmet-mounted camera was recording three great whites—each between 8 and 10 feet long—circling underneath his paddleboard and just a few yards from a group of oblivious surfers.

“The sharks didn’t seem to be paying me any attention. They looked like they were looking for fish, so I felt I could stand there safely and watch them,” Dohner, 38, said of the roughly five-minute encounter when it began last weekend.

That feeling didn’t last for long.  “There are two different things in your head,” he said. “”Wow, that’s beautiful,’ and ‘We should get out of here.’”

He isn’t the only thrill-seeker to actively seek out and film the sharks, which have recently been spotted more frequently near the El Porto waters off Manhattan Beach, an area popular with surfers and paddleboarders. Others have posted their close encounters on YouTube, but researchers and wildlife officials are calling for restraint, warning that the sharks will attack if they feel threatened.

Many of the great whites appear to be juveniles learning to feed and fend for themselves, said Chris Lowe, a marine biology professor and leader of the research Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach.

Researchers are still trying to determine why the young sharks have been drawn to the El Porto area—perhaps warmer temperatures or a larger feeding pool. Through tagging and other monitoring methods, researchers hope to have more of an answer by next year.

But one thing is clear: Experts have noticed an increase in shark sightings off beaches in Manhattan, Redondo and Ventura over the last few years. That may be alarming for some, but it’s a welcome development for wildlife researchers who say it’s a sign of a healthy rebound for marine life after California legislators prohibited the use of gill nets for fishing in 1990.

On March 1, white sharks earned some protection while state officials decide whether to list them under the California Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered. During that review period, the sharks cannot be legally hunted, captured or killed, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

No violations have been reported so far this year, according to Dan Sforza, assistant chief of the southern district offices for the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

 —Alicia Banks, Los Angeles Times, December 3, 2013

It seems to me little doubt that great whites, at least juvenile great whites, are common to these waters during the summer months (and later). What’s not clear is the location of the adults (that are dangerous). The biologists seem to suggest that there is limited risk from the juvenile sharks but it seems logical to me that there must be some adults around if the juveniles are in the area. Given the seemingly minimal fear by many of the local swimmers and surfers, I imagine it’s just a matter of time before someone is attacked and suffers injuries—or worse.

Great white shark isn’t a great catch

By Ed Zieralski, San Diego Union-Tribune, June 10, 2003

A Los Angeles fisherman who caught a 1-to 2-year-old great white shark from the Hermosa Pier will be cited by the State Department of Fish and Game for killing a protected species.

Abraham Ulloa, a general contractor from Los Angeles, posed with the estimated 61/2 -foot white shark on the pier June 7 along with two Hermosa Beach lifeguards.The photo appeared with a story in the Easy Reader, a Hermosa Beach newspaper, and even though the caption identified the catch as a “200-pound mako,” the story and headline identified it as a “great white shark.”

The story described Ulloa’s two-hour battle with the shark on 40-pound test line and heavier leader and how two fishing buddies helped haul the fish up with grappling gaffs.

Abraham Ulloa and his shark

Outraged by the story and photo, sport and commercial fishermen called Fish and Game officials and media. Many criticized the Hermosa Beach lifeguards for their involvement.” We received a lot of tips from the public on this,” said Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the DFG. Lauren Gangle,notified her supervisors at California DFG. She works as a Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission regional supervisor and is graduate student in marine biology. Mrs. Gangle collects data from commercial fisherman without their fear of any report of mismanagement. Ms. Gangl was present in Hermosa Beach at time of the capture of the Great White and contacted Ms. Wilson to report data. “Lauren gave me data and then I decided to proceed with violation proceedings.”

Department of Fish and Game warden Rebecca Hartman investigated and traced Ulloa to his home in Los Angeles. Ulloa told her his family had eaten some of the fish, and he had distributed portions to friends. But he still had the fins and jaws of the shark. Hartman didn’t cite Ulloa because he claimed he thought it was a mako shark. She confiscated the fins and jaws and took them to a marine biologist for identification.”At that young age, the teeth are somewhat like a mako’s, but the great white has serrated bottom teeth,” Lowe said. “And its uppers are more triangular than a mako’s.”

Hartman plans to cite Ulloa even though he professed ignorance. “It’s a violation even though he claims he didn’t know what it was,” Hartman said. “The law is set up to protect the animal. If you don’t know what it is, don’t take it. In this case, this individual took a great white shark, a predator that keeps sea lions in check and fills a certain niche in the ocean.”

Ulloa could not be reached for comment. He faces a misdemeanor charge, a fine of $1,000 and/or six months in county jail. Hartman said the Hermosa Beach lifeguards in the picture with Ulloa won’t be charged because they arrived after the shark was killed. They played no role in the killing of the fish, she said. Lifeguards Charlie Piccaro and Bill “Shark” Harkins’ only “crime” is they posed with Ulloa over a dead protected great white shark.

Lowe said Southern California is a nursery for great whites, and he estimates six to eight young great whites are caught each year by sport and commercial fishermen between Dana Point and Ventura.*** He said it’s important that laws stay in place to protect them. “The best guess is that great white sharks take 12 to 18 years to mature and give birth,” he said. “And when they do give birth, it’s only to one or two pups at a time. These fish have a life span of humans.” *** I think the number has gone up since then.

•••••••••••••••••••• Great White Shark ••••••••••••••••••••

Species: Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758); from the Greek carcharodon (rough and tooth), and carcharias (the ancient Greek name for the species). Class Chondrichthyes, Subclass Elasmobranchii, Superorder Galea, Order Lamniformes, Family Lamnidae—Mackerel sharks.

Alternate Names: It has many names throughout the world. Most common are great white and man-eater. Others include great white death, white pointer, Mango-ururoa (New Zealand), and Grand requin blanc (France). Called Tiburón blanco in Mexico.

Identification: Large, powerful body with the 1^st dorsal fin over rear of of pectoral fin; 2^nd dorsal fin begins in front of anal fin. Dark metallic-gray, slate-blue, brownish or blackish above, lighter on side, white below. Sometimes has a black spot at the base of the pectoral fin or on the underside of the pectoral fin near the tip. The teeth are very large and triangular, with serrated, saw-tooth edges.

Size: Although reported to 36 feet, and over 4,000 pounds in weight, most are under 21 feet in length. In California reported to nearly 20 feet in length.

Range: From Gulf of California to Gulf of Alaska.

Habitat: Inshore and offshore areas, especially near seal or sea lion rookeries.

Piers: White sharks have been taken at several piers including those at Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach and Goleta. A great white was reported hooked and lost at the Pacifica Pier in 1991.  Almost all were young pups under six feet in length although the one that decided to visit Pacifica grabbed a hooked salmon of ten pounds or so and was estimated at 12 feet in length and 700 pounds. The carcass of a small, four-foot-long baby white floated by the Point Arena Pier in March of 1997 until grabbed by a couple of the local local youth.

Bait and Tackle: None, illegal to take

Food Value: None, illegal to take.

Comments: Among the swimmers killed by great whites in California was one who decided to swim with the sea lions next to the Avila Beach Pier. It was a bad idea.

Great quote by Quint in “Jaws” — Sometimes that shark, he looks right into ya, right into your eyes. Y’know, the thing about a shark, he’s got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eyes. When he comes after ya, he doesn’t seem to be livin’ until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white, and then – aww, then you hear that terrible high-pitch screamin’, the ocean turns red, and in spite of all the poundin’ and the hollerin’, they all come in and rip ya to pieces…

 •••••••••••••••••••• Shortfin Mako ••••••••••••••••••••

Species: Isurus oxyrinchus (Rafinesque, 1810); from the Greek word isurus (equal and tail) and the Greek word oxyinchus (sharp snout). Class Chondrichthyes, Subclass Elasmobranchii, Superorder Galea, Order Lamniformes, Family Lamnidae—Mackerel sharks.

Alternate Names: Mako is the work used by the Maori in New Zealand to describe sharks, but this is another shark with many names. In California it’s often called bonito shark, mackerel shark, or simply mako. Also called blue pointer, bue dynamite paloma, spriglio, sharp-nosed shark, pointed-nose shark, and snapper shark (Australia). Called Tiburón marrajo, in Mexico.

Identification: Body more slender than great white. A long, conical-shaped snout with the 1^st dorsal fin beginning or slightly behind the rear corner of the long pectoral fin; 2^nd dorsal fin small, beginning slightly ahead of the anal fin. A prominent keel on the sides of the caudal peduncle extending from the tail to a point above the pelvic fins. Dark gray or metallic-blue above and on the sides (fading to gray after death), white below. Has a black spot at the base of the pectoral fin. Fang-like, non-serrated teeth.

Size: To 13 feet and over 1,530 pounds; a mako caught by commercial fishermen in Massachusetts in 1997 weighed 1,530 pounds—after being gutted. Most makos seen in California are 6-8 feet long.

Range: Gulf of California to Columbia River, Oregon but rare north of Point Conception.

Habitat: Epipelagic, aka sunlit or euphotic zone, the top layer of the ocean zones. Typically found in the open ocean, from the surface down to 492 feet, but will also occasionally venture inshore. Eats pelagic schooling species such as mackerel and sardines but also will eat squid, other sharks, dolphin, and even billfish; mako are considered apex predators.

Piers: Uncommonly seen at piers but several have been reported from Santa Monica Bay piers—Hermosa Beach Pier, Manhattan Beach Pier, Venice Pier and the Santa Monica Pier.  Makos have also been reported from the San Clemente Pier and Belmont Pier.

Bait and Tackle: Taken on live bait, especially live mackerel. Will also hit trolled mackerel and lures. Usually taken in deeper water with hooks size 6/0-10/0. Makos are the fastest swimming sharks reaching a sustained swimming speed exceeding 22 mph and spurts of nearly 50 mph. They are considered a top sportfish often leaping like a billfish when hooked.

Food Value:  Good eating. According to Raymond Cannon in his excellent book How to Fish the Pacific Coast, “thousands of pounds of bonito shark were sold during the meat scarcity in city markets and served in restaurants as ‘swordfish’ and ‘sea bass’ at fresh-fish prices.”

Comments: Richard Ellis in his excellent book, The Book of Sharks, writes, “The mako is the quintessential shark. It is probably the most graceful of all sharks, the most beautifully proportioned, the fastest, the most strikingly colored, the most spectacular game fish, and one of the meanest-looking animals on earth.”

(1) Shark Attack

Avila Beach, San Luis Obispo County — A woman swimming among sea lions in the ocean off the Central Coast town of Avila Beach died Tuesday morning after she was bitten by what authorities believe was a large great white shark. Deborah B. Franzman, 50, was attacked as she swam alone within sight of beachgoers on the Avila Beach pier and of about 30 lifeguards training on the beach.

The shark struck from below, breaching the surface and tearing most of the tissue from Franzman’s left thigh. Although no one saw the entire animal, a witness saw a gray fin in the churning water, and authorities said the nature and severity of the attack left little doubt it was a white shark. “The bite was fairly massive,” said Robert Lea, a marine biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game. “The white shark is one of the few animals that could make a bite that large. From the description witnesses gave, everything indicates” it was a white shark.

Should the autopsy slated for today confirm that Franzman was killed by a shark, it would be the first fatal shark attack along the California coastline since 1994. Two men were attacked by white sharks off Bay Area beaches last year, but both survived.  Despite the animals’ fearsome reputation as relentless predators, attacks by great white sharks—and all sharks, for that matter—are exceedingly rare. There have been 106 shark attacks along the West Coast since the Department of Fish and Game began keeping statistics in 1952. Just 10 have been fatal. All of the deaths occurred in California, and at least nine involved great white sharks, officials said.

Authorities closed the picturesque beach in Avila Beach as well as those in Cayucos, Morro Bay, Oceano and Pismo Beach immediately after the 8:15 a.m. attack. The beaches reopened at midday, drawing hundreds of visitors, but authorities barred people from entering the water until further notice.

Avila Beach is a beach town of 2,300 people in San Luis Obispo County 241 miles south of San Francisco. Franzman lived in the nearby town of Nipomo and was a regular at the beach, officials said. Her teenage son, Alex Franzman, said his mother taught philosophy and ethics at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria. She was a strong athlete who swam in the ocean three or four times weekly. She was often joined by friends, but she swam alone Tuesday when none showed up, he said. Her partner, who declined to comment, watched from shore as Franzman ventured into the sea. Franzman was about 75 yards from shore and 200 yards south of Avila Pier in water roughly 20 feet deep when the attack occurred, officials said. Authorities said she was well within the swimming boundary. As she swam, more than two dozen local lifeguards were training and competing in shows of skill just north of the pier.

SWIMMING WITH SEA LIONS

Witnesses told investigators that Franzman, clad in a wetsuit and fins, was swimming among a pod of sea lions when the mammals suddenly vanished and something large and gray breached the water.

A friend of Franzman’s screamed, “A shark’s got her! A shark’s got her,” bringing five lifeguards dashing off the pier, said Casey Nielsen, head of the San Luis Harbor District, which has jurisdiction over the beach.  One grabbed a passer-by’s cell phone and called 911. The others dove into the water despite having no rescue gear and little idea what might be waiting for them, Nielsen said. “It was heroism,” he said. “They knew someone was bit, and they went into the water and brought her to shore anyway. My first thought would have been ‘Stay out of the water.’” The four men, who could not be reached for comment, pulled Franzman ashore and loaded her into a pickup truck, where they began cardiopulmonary resuscitation and tried to stop the bleeding. “A bunch of local lifeguards come out and drag her in, and she was bleeding. It was bad,” eyewitness David Abbott, his voice cracking, told KCOY-TV in Santa Maria. Paramedics pronounced Franzman dead at the scene.

SIGNS POINT TO GREAT WHITE

Experts said the attack is typical of the white shark, an “ambush predator” that strikes quickly and from below with a devastating bite. One witness told investigators the animal bit the woman twice, but that could not be confirmed. “It appears she was bitten once primarily in the left leg, but there also is a wound on the right leg,” said Lea of Fish and Game.

Few animals other than the white shark are capable of so large a bite, he said. The bite in all likelihood severed Franzman’s femoral artery, contributing to her death, Lea said. Had the bite missed the artery, she might have survived the attack but would have undoubtedly lost her leg, he added. Lea said he will not know for sure it was a white shark until he examines the woman’s wounds, which also may shed light on the size of the animal. “We know it’s large, and large for a white shark can be anywhere from 12 to 18 feet,” he said. Such an animal could easily top two tons, he said. Sharks do not prey upon humans, Lea said. Instead, researcher believe most attacks are “a case of mistaken identity” in which the animals mistake humans—especially those wearing fins or riding surfboards — for seals or sea lions, their primary prey.

The most recent California shark attack occurred last year on Thanksgiving Day, when Michael Casey was bitten by a 16-foot white shark while enjoying the surf at Salmon Creek Beach in Sonoma County. Casey, a Santa Rosa deputy city attorney, was bitten at least twice in the legs; the resulting wounds required more than 80 staples to close. Another surfer, Lee Fontan of Bolinas, was bitten four times by a 12- to 14- foot great white on April 30, 2002, near Stinson Beach in Marin County.

—Maria Alicia Gaura, Chuck Squatriglia, San Francisco Chronicle, August 20, 2003

(2) She died doing what she loved

AVILA BEACH—The fatal injuries Deborah Blanche Franzman suffered while swimming off Avila Beach were inflicted by a 15-to 18-foot great white shark, authorities said Wednesday.

Preliminary findings of an autopsy performed on Franzman, as well as expert analysis of her injuries, conclude she was killed Tuesday morning by an adult great white shark, according to sheriff’s Lt. Martin Basti. Basti said Bob Lea, a marine biologist with California Department of Fish & Game, assisted in the autopsy and determined Franzman’s injuries were consistent with a great white shark attack. Lea estimated the shark that attacked Franzman, 50, a Hancock College sociology instructor who frequently swam in the ocean, was between 15 and 18 feet in length—the size of a long-bed mini-truck. A great white that size would weigh between 2,700 and 4,000 pounds; the average mini-truck weighs 3,220 pounds.

Witnesses who were on the beach reported Franzman was swimming near a group of feeding sea lions when suddenly the sea lions disappeared, a dorsal fin appeared and the swimmer was pulled under the water. The most severe injury sustained by Franzman was the severing of her left femoral artery caused by a large laceration from a shark bite. Basti wouldn’t say how many times Franzman was bitten. He did say a severed femoral artery would have required immediate medical attention, within one to two minutes, for a person to survive the injury. “It’s catastrophic and not survivable,” Basti said. Response time was quick, but when lifeguards reached Franzman, she was unresponsive. “She was floating on her stomach when I got to her,” said Avila Beach lifeguard Tim Borland. “She was unconscious. We couldn’t see (any wounds) on her body.”

Usually, lifeguards aren’t on duty at the beach until 10 a.m., but Tuesday the Port San Luis Harbor District was hosting a Central Coast lifeguard competition at the Avila Beach Pier. Borland, who was first to reach Franzman, and three other lifeguards where on the pier when they heard screams for help from the beach. “We just started running down the beach,” Borland said. “None of us even saw the woman in the water. I was swimming with my head up because we didn’t know what we were looking for.” The four lifeguards said they didn’t see the attack but knew they were likely in danger when they reached Franzman, who was bleeding profusely. “I don’t think any of us believed what was going on (when we reached her),” said Pismo Beach lifeguard Billy Larsen.

After the attack, Avila Beach, Olde Port Beach and Fisherman’s Beach were closed to all water activities and remained closed Wednesday. Casey Nielsen, Harbor District operations manager, said unless any new information is developed, such as confirmed shark sightings in the waters, the beaches would reopen today. Port San Luis Harbor District will post warnings that a person was attacked in the water. Pismo Beach and Oceano will have the same warnings signs. Nielsen said when the waters open, people will be urged to swim with caution—don’t swim near marine animals that are feeding, swim in groups close to shore and swim where a lifeguard is present.

“This is the creature’s home that we’re entering,” Nielsen said about ocean swimming. “We’re entering their environment and need to be aware of that.” Ocean swimmers are also cautioned to avoid early morning and late afternoon swims. After Labor Day, the Harbor District doesn’t staff the beach with lifeguards. Nielsen said he expects to step up lifeguard patrol from now until the Labor Day holiday weekend.

—April Charlton, Santa Maria Times, August 21, 2003

(3) New shark sighting at Avila Beach

AVILA BEACH—An Avila Beach fisherman saw fear in a harbor seal’s eyes just before a great white shark chomped its tail inches from his boat Saturday morning. Joe “Chovy” Dearinger was fishing for live bait between the Avila Beach and Unocal piers when he spotted the 18- to 20-foot shark breach as it lunged for the leaping seal 500 yards offshore.

Port San Luis Harbor District closed the waters at Avila Beach, Fishermen’s Beach and Olde Port Beach just after the sighting was reported around 10 a.m. Operations Manager Casey Nielsen said the water would remain closed until further notice.

“It takes a lot to get me nervous and I was like, ‘Oh my God,’” said Dearinger, a commercial fisherman at Avila Bay for six years. “It took me 15 minutes to calm down.” He recounted the sighting while unloading anchovies just off the pier at Port San Luis. Just as Dearinger was about to drop and drag his fishing net by hand, he saw two harbor seals jump out of the 35-foot deep water—an unusual occurrence. Another seal leaped while the great white shark surfaced to grab the tail of its prey. “As the seal hit the water, the shark had its tail section in his mouth,” Dearinger explained. “It was like something you see on National Geographic.”

The fisherman saw the entire shark—including its large teeth gripping the seal and 21/2-foot high dorsal fin—as he stood at the rear of the boat, net in hand. He narrowly missed catching the shark in his net. If the shark had become entangled, it could have rolled the 45-foot boat, Mello Boy, according to boat owner Deke Wells.

In his 15 years of fishing at Avila Bay, Wells has never spotted a great white shark. Neither has partner Dearinger. Wells said the splash created by the seal and shark was so large he believed the culprit was a humpback whale. “That was a big damn splash.”

The fishermen speculated the shark could have been the same that killed Nipomo resident Deborah Blanche Franzman last Tuesday. Besides the shark they saw Saturday, they spied one hours after Franzman was attacked. “He could be coming back to the scene of the crime,” Dearinger said. “He knows there is food.” Both fishermen said an exploding seal and sea lion population is attracting one or more great white sharks to the bay. “We’ve been saying it was inevitable,” Dearinger said. They believe the food source will cause a shark to stay. “He ain’t going anywhere,” Dearinger said.

The fisherman urged closure of all area beaches and suggested a boat patrol between piers. Dearinger also suggested the Port San Luis Harbor Patrol study movement and activity of seals and sea lions.“If you keep an eye on the seals, you’ll see a shark,” he said. Just before the shark surfaced Saturday, Dearinger said the seals acted skittish, keeping their heads above water instead of looking down for fish. After the seal attack, the remaining seals scattered.“You can tell when seals are looking for bait and when they are scared,” Wells said.

An ultimate solution could be controlling the seal and sea lion population, said Dearinger. He explained the creatures are now breeding in the bay, as opposed to the wild. The new additions are crowding onto the back of boats and sinking docks, said the fishermen. “There are way too many seals here,” said Wells, who recently fenced off his dock to prevent sleeping seals and sea lions. Still, they attempt to board. Dearinger and Wells will continue fishing for bait in the bay, although they admitted they will pay close attention to the seals and keep their hands in the boat. “We sure as hell will be keeping our eyes open,” Wells said.

—Emily Slater, Santa Maria Times, October 8, 2003

(4) Shark Presence Closes Avila Waters

The waters at Avila Beach, Fisherman’s Beach and Olde Port Beach will be closed to human contact until 7 p.m. Monday—just two days before the busy Fourth of July holiday—because of a great white shark sighting, according to Port San Luis Harbor District officials. The water was closed around 7 p.m. Wednesday after the Harbor Patrol was alerted to a credible shark sighting in the port’s mooring area; by harbor policy, a credible shark sighting triggers a mandatory five-day closure of the water in San Luis Bay.

A “boater with quite a bit of boating experience” spotted the great white that was estimated to be about 15 feet long, roughly the size of a small pickup with jump seats, said Casey Nielsen, Harbor District operations manager. “The five-day water use restriction is meant to be an opportunity to educate the public about specific ocean hazards,” Nielsen said of the water closure that will include the entire weekend before July Fourth—and which could be extended through the holiday if another shark is seen over the weekend.

While the district’s beaches remain open during water closures, signs are posted throughout the port warning the public that a shark has recently been sighted in the bay. People are also expected to voluntarily stay out of the water during closures. “We’re still inviting people to come to the beach …,” Nielsen said, noting that beachgoers can get their feet wet in the surf, but that’s it. “We know (the closure) is inconvenient for people.”

If there’s another credible shark sighting prior to Monday, the water closure would be extended, per the district’s Dangerous Marine Animal Incident Policy, according to Nielsen. The Harbor District adopted the mandatory water closure policy in August 2003 after a Nipomo woman was fatally attacked by a great white shark while swimming near a group of seals off Avila Pier. The last water closure in San Luis Bay was last Labor Day weekend, when the waters were closed for almost two weeks after two sightings were reported within days of each another.

Meanwhile, at Pismo Beach, advisory signs will be posted warning people to enter the water at their own risk; the city can only post warnings, because it doesn’t have the authority to close the water as the Harbor District does. Signs warning people of the shark sighting are also expected at Oceano Beach, but they hadn’t been posted as of early Thursday afternoon, according to a dispatcher at the Highway 1 ranger station.

—April Charlton, Santa Maria Times, June 29, 2007