Shark City, here we come ...

[riguerin]

The local dive conditions in OC haven’t been great this week … but the surfing has, thanks to some playful South/West combo swell.

I hit one of my favorite local spots, the point at Upper Trestles, bright and early this morning. The tide was low which meant that, unless you wanted to perform an awkward dance across the exposed rocks, you had to wade through a tidal pool at the mouth of the inlet in order to reach the line up. The water in the pool was approximately knee to waist deep and fairly clear. I happened to be looking down as I was trouncing through the middle of the shallows, when the movement of something fairly big caught me eye. It was a 3ft leopard shark, scurrying away from me and my splashing. “That was cool! “, I thought. It was at that moment that I happened to look around me and noticed that there wasn’t just one leopard shark … I was completely surrounded by leopard sharks. There were easily a dozen or more sharks trapped in the pool, ranging in size from about 18” to almost 4ft. I stood there quiet for a moment, watching these beautiful creatures cruising back and forth; completely ignoring the sweet little rights peeling off the point. After a little while, they seemed to become comfortable with my presence. A couple of the bigger sharks made some fairly close passes. It was certainly a most excellent experience.

It’s not a big surprise to see leopard sharks here. I’ve seen them in this exact spot on several occasions in the past. However, I was totally blown away by how many and how big some of these guys were today. To date, it is by far the highest concentration of leopard sharks that I have ever seen in one sighting. It is great to know that a small population seems to be flourishing here. These types of wildlife encounters are not uncommon along this stretch of undeveloped beach, and one of the reasons (besides the awesome surf) that I love this area. The San Mateo Creek watershed/basin is truly one of the jewels along our So Cal coastline and well worthy of the ongoing conservation acts to protect it.

 

[LAJim]

I went snorkeling with 15 leopard sharks in the marine preserve at Wrigley Two Harbors Catalina last fall. There were several 5 footers and one six footer and a dozen medium size ones circling under me in 12 feet of water. Got a little creepy after a while.

Jim

 

[dpbishop]

They also congregate in front of the Marine Room at La Jolla Shores. The theory that I have heard is that pregnanat females come in to gestate in the warmer water. I did the snorkle at Two Harbors a few years ago with at least 50 of them. I highly recommend it to anyone going to the Isthmus during the summer. They limit it to groups of 4 and you have to make a reservation.

 

[OCdiving Deb]

That was a beautiful description of the leopard shark sightings, riguerin. Thanks! I am used to reading about the leopard sharks at Marine Room in SD but it is a nice treat to read of them here in the OC. Now I just need to learn to surf if I want to see them locally. :rofl:

Speaking of the leopard sharks at Wrigley, have any of you done a night snorkel there (at Wrigley) with all the monster-sized lobsters? Now that is creepy. They remind me of the critters that were in the latest King Kong movie last year! Heebie jeebies! :11:

OK, I am not hijacking your thread.... I'd love to see leopard sharks here in OC. :blinking:

 

[Frank O]

Speaking of the leopard sharks at Wrigley, have any of you done a night snorkel there (at Wrigley) with all the monster-sized lobsters? Now that is creepy. They remind me of the critters that were in the latest King Kong movie last year! Heebie jeebies! :11:

(Continuing the hijack) No, but I've laid on the bottom underneath Wrigley's pier holding my breath looking up at clouds of hulking, giant calicos. I guess everything grows big there!

 

[scottfiji]

thanks for sharing the Shark stories!

sometimes in the fall small bat rays and leopard sharks swim together near the surf, around the Venice pier at Washington blvd in Marina del rey/venice. It's nice to watch!

there's one place in malibu I often see larger leopard sharks in about 4-10ft of water. Once when I was wading out in my scuba gear, one swam past my legs and startled me!

Scott

 

[riguerin]

Thanks for sharing, folks. The posts actually got me thinking about this a little. For the past several months we've seen the smaller sharks (12-18") regularly in this area. Possibly these may be last summer's brood that has taken residence in the relative protection of the channel. I'm wondering if the larger 3-4ft sharks , that we've been seeing recently, are small females that have returned to gestate, as dpdishop suggests. The channel pinches off at minus tides and creates a nice shallow protected pool. The water temps are always significantly warmer here.

Deb, we love claiming this area as our own. However, in reality, it sits just south of the county line ... technically it's in SD not OC. You don't need to learn to surf to have an encounter with these sharks. Ideally you would want to visit during a minus low tide and just wade or possible even snorkel around in the channel.

However, out in the lineup, encounters with other marine life are fairly common .. dolphins, sea lions, seals, whales, etc. cruise through daily. During winter morning, I've been out alone and had friendly harbor seals come and hang out with me; follow me around like a little puppy, try to offer me a tasty little octopi snack. One word of caution though. This area is also a known pupping ground for Carcharodon Carcharias ... there's usually a few sightings reported each year ... usually mere babies