Giant Squid Invading Santa Barbara Coast

Santa Cruz Shark Attack

A great white shark has attacked Eric Geiselman (New Smyrna Beach) while he was surfing off Laguna Road, Santa Cruz. The 21-year-old pro surfer’s board was broken in half.

When he felt he was under attack, Geiselman paddled fast to shore, as he was 50 yards from the beach. Later, the O’Neill Cold Water Classic California, held very close to the shark attack, got an alert call from the Floridian, who was also competing in the event.

No one was injured… this time.

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Holy Leaping Shark!

Horizons West surf shop owner/photog Randy Wright shot a sequence of a white shark breaching about 300 yards off Sunset Blvd in LA on Saturday, Oct 3rd. Damn!

Check out the entire sequence here!

Leaping Shark in Santa Monica!

Photos were taken Saturday morning near Pacific Palisades showing a large white shark leaping from the water.

Longtime local surfer, Randy Wright, shot the photos Saturday morning off Sunset Beach. Wright, who owns Horizons West surf shop in Santa Monica, said he was in his 10-foot kayak about 300 yards from the beach lifeguard tower when he snapped a series of photos capturing the shark as it broke the surface of the water.

The shark was about the same size as his kayak, he said.

Wright said he was in the water as a volunteer for the nonprofit Shark Research Committee, which conducts research on sharks and documents attacks on humans.

He said he had heard that someone had spotted a shark at the beach the previous day so he went out the next morning about 8:30 with his waterproof camera.

“I was just sitting out there in my kayak, not throwing chum or anything,” Wright said.

Ralph Collier, head of the committee, said that sharks in the area are nothing new. With more people surfing and enjoying the water, he said, the potential for shark sightings has increased.

More photos are posted on the committee’s website with a report by Wright.

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2 Great Whites Spotted Near Santa Cruz Beaches!

A day after a Capitola man shot video of a great white shark off the Seacliff pier, shark researcher Sean Van Sommeran reported sighting a great white off of Manresa State Beach around noon Friday.

Van Sommeran, who heads the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation in Santa Cruz, said he spotted the 16-foot great white off near the railroad trestle on Manresa in South County.

Van Sommeran said “It’s a big one.”

Ryan Dunlap was fishing for striped bass on the Seacliff State Beach pier Wednesday, when he noticed something a little larger tugging on his line. Dunlap said he managed to lure a 10-foot great white close to the pier with nothing but a foot-long sardine for bait.

Dunlap said the shark brushed up against his main line before it began chomping on the sardine, pulling him all the way down the pier.

Dunlap was unable to capture any video of the shark on Wednesday, but found it again on Thursday. Armed with his digital camera, he took some footage.

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Shark Attack in Carlsbad?

A woman says she is recovering from bites received in a shark attack at Terramar Beach at Carlsbad, Calif.

Bethany Edmund of Encinitas, CA, said she was swimming at the Carlsbad beach Aug. 25 when she felt a sharp pain in her foot that she initially suspected was caused by an underwater reef or another swimmer.

“I literally felt someone took my ankle and yanked me backwards, and I thought it was the swimmers that were near me,” said Edmund.

Edmund, who was also taking underwater pictures, said the shark then smashed into her, giving her a big bruise on her thigh.

The shark attacked her again, leaving Edmund with a bite on her thigh and the frightened woman quickly ran to shore. Specifics of Edmund’s injuries were not reported, but KGTV said the Encinitas resident was back in the ocean two days after the attack.

An unidentified shark expert said the bite marks indicate it was a baby great white shark. The same expert suggested the shark may have mistook Edmund’s bright green toenail polish for a fish.

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Porpoise-Chomping Shark Closes Two Santa Cruz Beaches

Seacliff and New Brighton state beaches are closed for up to seven days after visitors spotted a shark chomping on a porpoise off Seacliff beach at around 3 p.m. Tuesday.

“We have a confirmed predatory activity attack by a shark,” said Kirk Lingenfelter, superintendent with California State Parks, who ordered the closures when a four-foot long harbor porpoise washed up on Seacliff beach soon after the shark was spotted. Lingenfelter said researchers are still determining the size and type of the shark.

In keeping with protocol, the beaches will be closed to swimming, bathing and surfing within one mile of the shark sighting. Seabright and New Brighton could open by the weekend if no more sightings are reported.

The Santa Cruz County closures follow the closure of three miles of Stinson Beach in Marin County on Monday due to reported shark sightings there. Those beaches could reopen Friday.

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Shark Shuts Down Stinson Beach

Stinson Beach was closed Tuesday to swimmers, waders, and surfers following a pair of shark sightings.

Golden Gate National Recreation officials told CBS 5 that they received two “reliable” shark sighting reports on Monday. As a result, they made the decision to close the beach for 5 days. The beach was to remain closed until Saturday, although the length of the closure could be extended if additional sightings occured.

Officials did not immediately know what kind of shark was spotted, but noted that Great White Sharks are very common in the area and there have been several attacks over the years.

The Stinson beach closure is the first in Northern California following a string of warnings in recent days to beachgoers in Oregon after a string of unusual shark sightings – and the capture of a 12-foot creature – along the Oregon coastline.

Holla! Great White Caught Off La Jolla!

According to the LA Times, a great white shark about 6 feet long and 150 pounds was caught by a fly fisherman off La Jolla last week.

It’s believed to be the first great white taken off the California coast using a fly rod and reel.

Jeff Patterson was fishing about five miles offshore when the white shark hit.

The fight lasted about 25 minutes. Patterson thought it was a mako shark until he got it close enough to the boat and realized it was a great white.

Being that it’s not legal in California to catch great whites, Patterson released the shark after taking a picture.

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“Numerous Puncture Wounds From An Unknown Marine Animal”

Cal Fire officials said Monday that no beach advisories will be posted after a surfer was hurt off Shell Beach in what is suspected to have been a bite by a small shark or other marine animal because the cause of his injury can’t be confirmed.

About 8 p.m. Sunday, a 26-year-old man reported that his foot was hurt while he was surfing in the waters off of Silver Shoals Drive.

San Luis Ambulance medics took the man to Arroyo Grande Hospital to be treated for what they described in radio dispatches as “numerous puncture wounds” from “an unknown marine animal.”

But fire officials said Monday that they could not confirm the injuries came from a “dangerous marine animal” attack.

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