The following reports for 2008 have been provided as a public service. They are intended to inform our visitors of current shark activities along the Pacific Coast of North America. To review Pacific Coast Shark News for 2003 click here, for 2004 click here, for 2005 news click here, and for 2006 news click here, and for 2007 news click here.

Huntington Beach — On May 5, 2008 Ryan Roe was surfing near Golden West Street, Huntington Beach. It was 11 AM and he had been on the water 20 minutes. Air and water temperatures were estimated at 68 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively. The sky was clear and there was an onshore breeze contributing to the slightly choppy conditions with 1 – 2 foot surf. Roe recalled; “I started out in the lineup directly in front of Golden West Street. Then after seeing a few peaks pop up about 50 yards south, I paddled towards them. After taking a few short rides (very crumbly lines) I kept paddling just to get an arm workout and changed my direction north, deciding to cut my session short. When I started paddling north, I noticed the fin break the surface following the same direction that I was traveling, but about 15-20 yards outside of the surf line. The shark stayed high in the waterline for about 20 seconds, and was very smooth in its movement north. Then the shark submerged, and I was on my way to the sand. I first saw the dorsal fin break the surface then I saw the tip of the tail. There was about 4 – 5 feet between the dorsal fin and the tail tip. The coloration was dark gray and its movements were very smooth through the water. The shark was approximately 15 – 20 yards from my spot in the lineup.” Caution should be exercised when utilizing this location for your ocean water activities. Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

Solana Beach — On May 4, 2008 Eric reported the following to Surfline; “The Whitey spotted at Table Tops in Solana Beach 40 feet from break outside surfaced on its side, and my friend who surfs their everyday with his brother saw its white under belly. Said it was huge!!! They caught a wave in and reported it to the lifeguards. You can confirm it with them. Tables and Seaside has a new local resident. Be careful.” Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

Bolsa Chica State Beach — On May 2, 2008 Patrick Lynch and Anthony DeHerrera were surfing 40 yards from shore near the main tower at Bolsa Chica State Beach. It was 7:30 AM and they had been in the water 45 minutes. The sky was clear and the sea glassy with 4 – 5 foot waves. The water is 12 – 15 feet deep at this location with a sandy ocean bottom. Air and water temperatures were estimated at 68 and 62 degrees Fahrenheit respectively. Lynch recalled; “While waiting for set waves we noticed a large slowly moving boil and then a grey dorsal fin, 8 – 10 inches in height, surface approximately 15 yards away from us. After confirming what we both saw, we then paddled cautiously into the next waves and took them to shore. After reporting this incident to a beach patrol officer he confirmed that he had not seen any dolphins in the area for awhile. We decided to move to a new location about 600 yards to the North. We entered the water and paddled out to about 40 yards from beach. Another surfer was in water with us about 30 yards to the South. While waiting for set waves we saw a large boil 10 – 15 yards North of our location. We decided to exit the water again. Once on the beach the unidentified surfer came up to us and said he saw a shark’s fin as well. Anthony and I have both been surfing and fishing for over 30 years and have a lot of experience in and on the water. This was definitely not a dolphin or a seal.” Caution should be exercised when utilizing this location for your ocean water activities. Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

Tamarack Beach — On May 1, 2008 Ken Winfield was on his way to surf Tamarack Beach in Carlsbad. It was 6:15 AM and the sky was overcast. Air and water temperatures were both estimated at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Winfield recounted; “I observed a Great White Shark, 8 – 10 feet in length, in a confrontation with about 8 dolphins while driving my car over the jetties at Tamarack Beach. Water was flying everywhere, I saw at least two baby dolphins depart after the confrontation, which last about 45 seconds. It took place just inside the jetties at Tamarack Beach. There were a lot of dolphins in the area at the time, 50 – 60+. I was told several hours later that about one hour after this incident a shark attacked a Sea Lion pup at Cassidy Street in Oceanside, which is less than one half mile North of the jetties.” Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

Solana Beach — On April 25, 2008 Dr. David Martin, a retired veterinarian, was swimming with eight companions of the Triathlon Club of San Diego at 7 AM. They were 100 – 150 yards from shore North of Fletcher Cove, Solana Beach, California. After entering the water they headed North. Rob Hill, a member of the club, was running along the shore and recalled, “His friends saw him come up out of the water, scream, ‘Shark,’ flail his arms and go back under.” Two members of the group swam to his aid and assisted him to the beach. A life guard truck transported the injured swimmer to the Lifeguard station on the bluff that overlooks Fletcher Cove. Paramedics attempts to resuscitate Martin were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at 7:49 AM. Authorities immediately closed a 17 mile stretch of beach. The following information was obtained during the forensic examination of the deceased; “one, small, tooth fragment with 2 serrae, and a second, small, tooth fragment with 3 serrae, were removed from a thigh injury. They are both indicative of lower jaw teeth from a adult White Shark. 'Interspace measurements' of tooth insertion points of the wounds are comparable with those of a 15 – 16 foot White Shark. The shark’s description, tooth fragments, wound dimensions, including 'interspace measurements,' confirm a White Shark, 15 – 16 feet in length, was the causal species of this attack." Our thoughts and prayers go out to Dr. Martin’s family and friends.

Hermosa Beach — On April 17, 2008 Jack Coble and a friend were surfing at the 17th Street Break at Hermosa Beach. It was 6:15 PM and they had been on the water about one hour. The sky was clear with an onshore breeze contributing to the choppy sea conditions with wind swell waves about 4 – 5 feet. There was an unusually large amount of kelp in the area. A fisherman was observed on the beach about 150 feet from their location. Air and water temperatures were estimated at 65 and 58 degrees Fahrenheit respectively. Coble recounted; “My buddy and I were out for about an hour. We were surfing the outside set at 17th Street with lots of kelp present and only two other surfers out. There were long lulls between sets and the water was choppy and seemed to be between tides but high. I was on a longboard and my friend on a 6 foot 'fish' shaped board so he was really exposed and would kick both feet and arms to catch waves. I was facing the beach while waiting between sets. I looked to the south and saw about 15 – 20 feet from me a very thin straight dorsal fin that seemed to be blue-grey in color and about 18 inches above the water. It was tracking straight and slow directly towards me. Unlike a dolphin, there was no roundness to the fin or arching to the back. I did not look long enough to see if the tail was also above water, but alerted my friend and we very quickly and not at all casually swam for the shore like little girls. The third surfer down the beach had seen us quickly swim ashore and he later told us that the 'shark' kept its depth, dorsal fin above water and slowly advanced towards him. He took the next wave in and we all watched for the fin or any other sign but neither of us saw it again. We alerted the lifeguard on duty who put a call in after questioning us.” Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

Carlsbad Beach — On April 16, 2008 Ken Winfield took this picture with his cell phone. It is an adult Sea Lion that he came across at theBeach in front of Cherry Street in Carlsbad. He also reported that his daughter told him that she saw a dead Sea Lion on the beach in Encinitas, around J Street on the 24th of April 2008. Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

Bolsa Chica State Beach — On April 10, 2008 Mark Wilson was surfing 80 – 100 yards off Bolsa Chica State Beach at the tower near the entrance. It was 7:45 AM and he had been on the water about one hour with two unidentified surfers. It was sunny with small surf, two to three feet max, and clean conditions. Wilson recalled; “While waiting for a set I observed a triangular dorsal fin moving South about 20 yards further out from my position. The fin was about 12 inches high and grey/brown in color. It was not threatening in any way. I was moving slowly and the shark did not make a move toward me. I went ashore following the encounter.” Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

San Onofre, Trail Five — On April 7, 2008 Julius Morck was surfing 300 feet from shore at San Onofre, Trail Five. It was 6:30 PM and he had been on the water about 2.5 hours. He estimated air and water temperatures at 50 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit. There was a slight chop on the sea surface under fair skies. Morck recounted; “I saw a dark triangular dorsal fin, 12 – 18 inches in height, cruising about 100 feet out from the break. It appeared to be heading South. Prior to the encounter I had been fairly calm in the water with very little movement.” Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

Huntington Beach — On March 26, 2008 Jeff Duncan was surfing on the South side of Huntington Beach Pier. It was 7:15 AM with a bright, sunny sky and a ‘glassy sea surface.’ He had been in the water about 30 minutes. Duncan recounted; “I was sitting watching the horizon, for the next set wave, when I noticed something surface just to my right of view and approx. 20-30 feet away. It took only a moment to realize that it was not a dolphin, whale or other animal…..it was a shark. It slowly surfaced only enough to see its side and dorsal fin. I only saw a large triangular dorsal fin and about 4-5 feet of the shark's dorsal/side, which was a very light gray. The large dorsal fin had a somewhat irregular edge which almost looked damaged in someway, though not seriously It seemed to be swimming north toward the pier and not toward me, but I was the only surfer near the animal at the moment. I noticed a very large boil in the water after the shark submerged. The boil made me think the animal must have been very large, maybe 15 feet or so. I did not see any signs of the shark after this, but after confirming with other surfers that it definitely looked like a shark and that there were other observations of a large shark seen from the parking lot (which I was unaware), I promptly made my way to the beach.” Caution should be exercised when utilizing this location for your ocean water activities. Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

Huntington Beach — On March 22, 2008 Matt Moore was walking along the North end of Bolsa Chica at Huntington Beach. It was 7:15 AM with a sunny sky. Moore recalled; “As the waves were small, I decided to go for a beach hike from the north end of Bolsa Chica up to the Sunset Beach jetty. There was a slight offshore breeze, sunny conditions, and relatively clear water. The tide was medium high and several long boarders were struggling to catch a few high tide near shore ‘Decepto’ waves. As I walked across the sand out to the water, I noticed a commotion in the water, several boils pop up and some water being displaced. I saw a small whale surface, spout, thrash, and dive about 50 to 75 yards offshore. It was about 25 feet in length. As I watched it for a few minutes, I noticed it repeating this while moving northward at a slow pace, resurfacing at about 25 yard intervals. I could easily discern the whale tale as it broke the surface, even the somewhat lighter colored, barnacle encrusted nose. The third time it surfaced I noticed a shark swimming right along with it. It had the tell-tale triangular shark dorsal fin, was about 10 feet in length and had a top notched rear tale. It appeared to be pursuing the whale northward. I couldn't tell if the whale was distressed or not, but the shark reappeared several times as the whale moved up the beach. Two other surfers standing nearby briefly discussed the sighting with me, and both agreed that it was a shark. One of the guys even said it looked like there were two sharks out there. I walked up the beach for 1/2 mile or so, watching the whale surface a half dozen more times. At one point the whale came within 10 yards of a lone surfer, but the shark was not present. I have lived and surfed for years all throughout the Pacific Northwest including Oregon, Humboldt, Sonoma, Marin, and Santa Cruz. I have personally had several encounters with great whites including having one swim under me, witnessed a feeding, saw one chase seals up onto a beach. I am not one to cry wolf and am positive as to what I witnessed today.” Caution should be exercised when utilizing this location for your ocean water activities. Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

Santa Monica Beach — On March 14, 2008 Dan Burks was surfing at Santa Monica just South of Bay Street at about 7:45 AM. He reported; “I don’t know what kind of shark it was, but I estimate its length at 8 or 9 feet. The back edge of the dorsal fin looked pretty scarred up. It was about 70 yards out from my location. It did not approach me and once submerged I did not see it again. Another surfer also saw the shark but I do not have his name.” Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

San Onofre, Trail One — On March 8, 2008 Chris Pavlis and his brother-in-law Troy were surfing at Trail One, San Onofre. It was between 11:30 AM and 12 PM and they had been in the water 2 ½ hours. The sky was clear with a light breeze and a temperature in the upper 60s Fahrenheit. The sea surface was mostly calm with the surf 2 – 3 feet and a water temperature in the upper 50s Fahrenheit. The ocean floor at Trail One was a mixture of sand and rocks near the main rock reef. Pavlis recalled; “I had been out surfing for about two hours before my brother-in-law paddled out and outside of the tide dropping nothing out of the ordinary had gone on. There were about 10 guys in the water spread out over about 300 yards. As the tide started to drop I paddled closer to the rocky reef if you will to get a little better shaped wave at that time Troy came out and caught some waves and after about 30 minutes he took one almost to shore turned around and was coming back out, I was sitting outside and turned around to tell him cool wave and when I looked at him I noticed a boil about ten feet from him and when I focused on the water I saw the shark swimming slowly and methodically straight towards Troy. It was about 7 feet in length and light grey in color. I freaked a bit and started yelling and pointing for him to turn and look but he just dug in and paddled harder. The shark literally passed the tail of his board by inches making a perfect T from my vantage point. It continued swimming North towards the reef and disappeared. And though a seven foot shark may seem quite minor to most, in all my 34 years of surfing I have had no sightings or encounters with sharks till now and to be honest this brief encounter has changed me. Every time I go in the water alone now I have a nasty little fear that I can't shake.” Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

Huntington Beach — On March 7, 2008 Thomas Larkin was surfing with two friends. He recounted the following; “I was surfing a 6’6” Avisco (carbon fiber) Surf Prescriptions Bat Tail Quad. I paddled out at Dog Beach near Huntington Cliffs around 7:10 in the morning at a pretty full high tide. Dog Beach is located in a stretch of Huntington City Beach between Seapoint Street and Golden West Street. I was meeting two friends there, Matt Donoghue and Craig Angel. The current was moving around a lot of water, and both of them were on longboards, so about 20 minutes into the surf I was tired of paddling over to them on my shortboard, and was surfing pretty much alone. There were two bodyboarders about 100 yards north of me, and I was almost due west of the ramp walkway. At about 8:00 AM, I caught my best wave of the session, and even though Matt and Craig had already gotten out, I wanted one more. I paddled back out and was sitting in the lineup alone, with the closest surfers about 200 yards south, and the bodyboarders were inside and north. I was waiting for a set for about 5 minutes when I felt a jolt down on the tail of my board, immediately followed by violent bubble cascade, which sunk the board down about another 8 inches (see photograph). I didn’t really get what was going on as quickly as I should have, but as soon as it begun it had ended and I was apparently alone again. A wave popped up, I paddled into it but pearled because of the water in the nose of my board, I quickly got back on and paddled into the whitewater of the next wave and boogie boarded it to the beach where I emptied the board through the apparent bite mark." The diameter of the bite suggests an adult White Shark in excess of 15 feet in length. Caution should be exercised when utilizing this location for your ocean water activities. Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

San Onofre, Trail One — On March 5, 2008 Kelly Lewis reported the following: “The shark was spotted at the base of Trail One, San Onofre State Park at approximately 1:45 PM. It appeared to be about 6 feet long. It was thrashing violently until a set of waves came in to float it (see photographs). It then spent another 2 to 3 minutes in very shallow water sometimes on it's back, eventually swimming into deeper water and disappearing. Dozens of seagulls were circling as if an opportunity existed. I had just been knee deep in the water a hundred yards south throwing a stick for my dog that was swimming well out into the surf. No surfers were in the water. My clothing doesn't seem to be of any importance. The shark came ashore independent of any human interaction. The beach has a very flat sand bar 300 feet long that stays flat out another 200 feet. However at the area this shark was ashore there are rocky depressions that set up drainage 'creeks' that run parallel to the shore to drain away higher sets that flood over the sand bar at or around low tide. My guess is the shark just got washed in and ended up stranded until another 'flooding set' allowed him to find an escape route. It was very lethargic after the set re-floated it, and as you saw in the one picture it was on its back. It also swam on its side for a period of time. I thought it may have been seriously injured. There was pinkish, almost a diluted blood look along its belly.” The pictured animal is a juvenile Salmon Shark, which are infrequent visitors to this area. Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

Monterey Bay — On February 5, 2008 a juvenile male Great White Shark was released in Monterey Bay, 162 days after it was placed in the Monterey Bay Aquarium Outer Bay exhibit. The young shark carried two electronic tags: one that will relay near real-time data about his travels for about eight months, and a second that will collect detailed information on his movements for the next five months.

Data from the second tag, documenting where the shark goes, how deep it dives and the water temperatures it favors, will be relayed to Monterey Bay Aquarium scientists via satellite when the tag pops free in early July. The shark had grown from an initial size of 4-feet, 9-inches and 67 ½ pounds when it arrived on August 28, 2007 to its current size of 5-feet, 10-inches and 140 pounds.

This is the third time in four years that the Aquarium has exhibited a Great White Shark and then returned it to the wild. The first shark, a female was held for 198 days; our second, a male, for 137 days. Both were successfully returned to the wild and the tracking tags they carried documented their journeys back in the ocean.

Monterey Bay scientists have tagged 10 other young sharks in the wild in Southern California waters as part of their ongoing Great White Shark field project, and support research to track the migrations of adult Great White Sharks tagged off the Farallon Islands and Point Año Nuevo on California's central coast.

The Aquarium will begin its seventh field season of white shark research this summer, and will again attempt to bring a young shark back to Monterey for exhibit.

The material contained on this Web site is shared as a public service and to further the scientific goals of the Shark Research Committee. All text and images on this Web site are the exclusive property of the Shark Research Committee. Information on this Web site may be used for private study, but may not otherwise be published, duplicated, or modified in any way without the prior written permission of Ralph S. Collier.