The shark may swim right under a surfer, get startled, and whack the board with its tail.
As summer nears, sharks are on the move. And so are people, packed like sardines on beaches and in the water where sometimes, a large predatory fish swims right below, unnoticed.
Over the last five years, California lifeguards have reported a five-fold increase in great white shark sightings.
From April through October, Southern California is their nursery, and San Diego has become a hotspot, according to Chris Lowe, professor in marine biology and director of the Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab. We clearly have an aggregate of great white sharks off Del Mar, Lowe told the Del Mar City Council on May 3. Lowe s team is tagging and tracking white sharks, using drones and other technology that will help yield better alert systems.