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Great White Shark Warnings Issued at Channel Islands National Park
A spate of shark encounters and sightings has led to a flurry of warnings to surfers and swimmers along the Central Coast, including at Santa Barbara Island in Channel Islands National Park.
Despite the heightened awareness, a surfer was bitten by a shark Friday evening near Silver Shoals off Shell Beach. Derek Crane, 19, of San Luis Obispo, was bitten on the foot by what he described as a four-foot brown shark with dark spots. A friend drove him to a nearby hospital for treatment of a laceration.
National park officials last week issued a public notice for those wishing to visit Santa Barbara Island. Great white sharks have been observed in the area attacking California sea lions although there have been no shark attacks on humans there.
There have been three known attacks on sea lions by great white sharks in the past few months, including one at the Santa Barbara Island Landing Cove, the only access point on the one-square-mile isle. Hordes of sea lions enjoy hauling out on the barnacle-encrusted rocks surrounding the cove. Two other attacks occurred off Cat Canyon on the rugged southeast side of the island.
Officials warned the public to enter the water at their own risk until further notice. The windswept island is a popular destination for day hikers, campers, divers and kayakers.
Santa Barbara Island is home to one of the largest California sea lion rookeries in the state — numbering in the thousands — and a smaller northern elephant seal rookery with hundreds of the animals.
— Noozhawk contributor and local freelance writer Chuck Graham is editor of Deep magazine.
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» on 07.05.10 @ 04:23 AM
Santa Barbara island is such an amazing place! The next best thing to actually visiting the island is exploring it virtually on BlooSee http://bit.ly/dD0LmX Interesting that the shark attacks are only on the East Coast, one would think that they would also strike in the Elephant Seal Cove area in the north…
» on 07.05.10 @ 07:53 AM
I can’t even begin to express how disappointed I am that you (Noozhawk) are contributing to the panic and paranoia propagated by KEYT regarding sharks in our waters.
To begin with, seals are a primary food source for sharks. So to say that there have been “attacks” on seals in the area is misleading at best.
There is ALWAYS a danger of shark encounters in our waters and the only reason that it seems to be elevated at this time is all of the extra media attention. The risk is minimal (humans are not on the menu for sharks), but it still exists and I would hope that instead of inciting panic and fear, you, Noozhawk, would take this opportunity to educate the public. Talk about how it is NEVER safe to swim with seals, a shark’s primary food source. Sharks feed at dusk and dawn, and being in the water surfing or swimming at those times increases the likelihood of an encounter.
Sharks are vital to our ocean’s ecosystem and many species are already endangered. Inciting fear only aggravates the danger of extinction.
Please give the objective reporting that I have come to expect from you.
» on 07.05.10 @ 09:00 AM
That’s a really excellent point that Talecr makes. The word “attack”, that even slipped in my comment as well, is Hollywood-esque and biased.
Sharks are feeding in their natural environment and humans are very rarely affected by them. Us, however, are having a devastationg effect on shark populations, and that is an important and under-reported story.
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