SORRY DUDE! Great white sharks appear in massive numbers off California coast, beaches closed

Whoa, check out all those sharks!

Californians love their beaches, and few things can keep them out of the water, especially in the summer. Unfortunately, one of those things is appearing in greater numbers -sharks. And not just any sharks, but great whites.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - The world's most famous great white shark is Jaws, the fictional villain of the 1980s movie franchise of the same name. Now the great white shark is back in the news, and not because of its television fame. Juvenile sharks have begun to appear on California beaches in alarming numbers.

California's Huntington Beach has been closed three times since 2015 because of white shark activity offshore. The beach has never before been closed for this reason. Great white sharks have the dubious distinction of attacking humans more than any other species, likely because of their very wide distribution around the world's oceans. Great whites are a global species, found virtually everywhere.

Southern California appears to be ground zero for this most recent shark infestation, with sightings ranging from San Luis Obispo county in central California, to San Clemente in Orange County, north of San Diego.

Despite the closures, they're mostly due to an overabundance of caution. Sharks rarely bite humans and they never actually eat people. Such occasions are rare. Humans are much more dangerous to sharks, trolling them and harvesting their fins, then leaving the creatures to die in the cold depths of the ocean. Human destruction of sharks is so severe that many species, including the  venerable great white, are listed as species of various levels of concern.

As for why there are so many sharks close to the shores this year, it likely has a lot to do with El Nino and basic shark survival. The warmer waters of the El Nino season have caused many prey fish to migrate north, and the sharks have followed. Juveniles may be flocking closer to the shore because there are fewer predators there and it's easier to hunt food. A 2014 survey estimated that 2,400 great white sharks live off the California coast. That number has likely increased, for a short time. 

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'

Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online