Quick Take
A youth aide to the Rio Del Mar State Beach Junior Lifeguard program was bumped by a shark while setting up a buoy 100 yards offshore. No one was injured, and the water will be closed until Thursday.
Two miles of Rio Del Mar State Beach will be closed for 48 hours following an encounter between a swimmer and a shark Tuesday morning.
There were no injuries and the incident was not classified as an attack, according to State Parks Public Safety Superintendent Capt. Gabe McKenna.
The interaction happened around 10:53 a.m. when a youth aide with the Junior Lifeguard program was setting up a swimming buoy 100 yards offshore, McKenna said. A marine animal that the swimmer identified as a shark bumped the buoy and hit the swimmer.
The lifeguards on the beach watched the incident happen and immediately rushed into the water to help the youth, successfully bringing him to shore safely. One of the lifeguards estimated that the shark was 6 to 8 feet long.
Beach workers, following state shark protocols, shut down ocean access for a mile in either direction for 48 hours.
Chris Lowe, who runs the California Shark Beach Safety Program, said these guidelines are derived from “the best available data” on shark movements and risk factors, primarily aiming to leave enough time for beachgoers and marine life to calm down and for officials to properly inform the public.
The Junior Lifeguard program will continue at Rio Del Mar State Beach with sand-based training for the next two days, McKenna said. The program is at the end of its three-week session. The beach area will remain open while the water is closed.
It is unknown what species of shark was encountered.
Lowe, who is also the director of the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach, said he can’t identify the species of shark based on the details shared by park officials, but he confirmed that the 6-to-8-foot length is consistent with the expected size of a juvenile great white shark.
“I’m not saying it is a white shark,” Lowe said. “It very well could be, but without confirmation, I can’t speak to that.”
There is a known great white shark nursery in Aptos where the concrete ship, the SS Palo Alto, is grounded, according to Lowe.
“In terms of the bumping behaviors, some sharks do that when they’re curious,” Lowe said. “They will make contact with a person or an object as they’re checking it out. And that’s simply the way they investigate things.”
While bumping is seen in all ages of sharks, Lowe said juveniles tend to be curious and bump, especially in low-visibility areas, including Santa Cruz County beaches.
However, this does not mean that encounters with people are common. The Shark Lab has hundreds of hours of drone footage showing sharks roaming in waters next to thousands of beachgoers in Southern California with no interactions, Lowe said.
These days, he said, it’s a far greater issue for sea lions farther south and otters in Northern California to harass or harm surfers and swimmers than it is for sharks.
Above all, he encourages people to be vigilant and remember to share the habitat with wildlife. In other words: “It’s their home, and we’re just guests.”
“People have to remember that when they go in the ocean, it’s a wild place, right?” Lowe said. “Your safety is your responsibility. Knowing that there’s sharks out there is something people don’t necessarily need to be afraid of, but they do need to pay attention to.”
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