Has anyone seen a shark while surfing?

Question

serious question

I know sharks like cold water

the discovery channel one time they did a show about sharks and they said its rare for them to be that close to shores

so where and when have you seen a shark

any encounters in southern california?

Answer 1

ya, I live in SoCal, and just recently a guy was attacked by a great white just off the coast of the city of san clemente, at seal rock, only 1/4 a mile out to sea.  Me, I surf SoCal every day and all I see are sand sharks and leopard sharks- with the occasional dolphins passing through. You've just got to be careful man, never surf alone, and watch out for sharks.

you can read the article at surfline, here:

http://www.surfline.com/surfnews/article...

Answer 2

yea  ive seen some threshers and blues, and there are the occasional great whites around... i surf on long island and theyre pretty common but attacks arent

Answer 3

nope. i saw one in florida. about, 15 ft from the shore in the water.

Answer 4

naw but i have seen dolphins be4 <sry off subject> also you know wats crazy they have this thing called a shark sheild and its suppose to send sharks away from you its like a clip you put on ur board and it sends off a electrical wave i dunno if it works though

Answer 5

Its not rare for them to be close to the shores!

I've seen sharks while snorkeling near the shore, a LOT!

i ve seen about 20 sharks in total, however 19 were just nurse sharks and one was a blue shark, however nurse shark are not dangerous at all and that blue shark was scared of humans and wasnt dangerous, unless someone would have started bleeding. :)

EDIT: Southern California near the shore? ... Relax dude (and call me if you see a shark, I'll jump out of a window 5 times in a row, until my hands fall off!)

Answer 6

nope

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

-dan (my light is electric)

Answer 7

I've seen about 10 different sharks surfing at New Smyrna Beach in Florida, the biggest one probably being 4 1/2-5 feet.  It was probably about 60 feet from the shore.  I don't know what it was, I just stayed on my board and caught a wave in.  There were TONS of jellyfish too.  Its pretty crazy paddling out and scooping up one of those things unexpectedly.

Answer 8

I have been swimming in the ocean and back bays for about 50 years. I started surfing, scuba diving and snorkleling in the '60s. In the late '60s, early '70s, I surfed by a fishing pier, almost every day, all summer long. I also spent many nights on that same pier, shark fishing. We caught lots of sharks. Most were in the 4-6 foot size range, but I did see somebody catch a 8-10 foot hammerhead (very rare for that area). He had to beach it, it was too big to get in the piers lift net.

There are sharks in every ocean of the world. They are swimming around us, right off shore, every time we go in the ocean.

I was surfing one day in New Jersey when people on shore spotted a shark. There were probably thirty people in the line up, and everybody came in, except me. I was not particularly worried. The shark was in heavy surf and he/she was not making good headway. It was not moving normally, and it was clearly visible as it moved through the shallows. It didn't scare me at all. It is usually not the shark that you see that gets you, its the one you didn't see.

later that same summer, I was diving one day, in about 50 feet of water, two or so miles off shore. I see a shark, about a six footer, moving around my buddy and I. i didn't like the way it was moving, it looked pretty scarey, so I got my buddy's attention, and we were back in the boat in seconds!

I have seen quite a few in the Pacific, South China Sea, Caribean and Gulf of Mexico, but not real "close encounters" while surfing. Although I have had a couple close encounters with Baracudas while diving or snorkeling. They scare me more than sharks.

I do watch for certain signs, that tell me I might want to stay on the beach for a while. When bait fish, particularly large bait fish, like mullet, start jumping out of the water, that usually means there is a predator behind them. If I have seen dolphins around, I relax, it is likely them. However, no dolphins, I start to think shark. Or, a school of feeding blue fish, which scares me more than any shark would.

Sharks are a beautiful and ancient part of the ocean ecosystem. We swim and surf where they live. We are not their food of choice, so just try to avoid the water during their prime feeding times, in many cases at dusk. Don't surf around big schools of bait fish, sharks can think your foot looks a lot like a bunker or a mullet. If you surf near a big seal population, be careful of seasonal seal movements, sharks love seals for dinner. Statistically, you are more likely to hit the lottery AND get struck by ligtening on the same day than get attacked by a shark. I am saddened by the death of the man in Cali last week, and I offer my condolences to his family. I bet a 'school' of triathlon swimmers in wet suits looked a lot like a school of seals for that Great White. By the way, the most aggressive 'man eaters' are Bull Sharks, and they are found in greater numbers in the Atlantic, from VA to FL... Now don't be scared, you'll be fine. Go surfing.

Answer 9

i have been bitten by one in the foot. what was weird about it though was it was a nurse shark