Shark advisory lifted after sighting off Huntington Beach pier
Lifeguards lifted a shark advisory Wednesday afternoon along a stretch of Huntington Beach where a 7-foot shark was seen Tuesday.
Huntington Beach lifeguards issued the advisory Tuesday afternoon after a fisherman hooked what appeared to be a juvenile great white shark off the end of the pier, said Marine Safety Lt. Claude Panis.
The fisherman’s line broke and the shark swam away. The beach was not closed, but lifeguards posted an advisory for beachgoers a half-mile south and a half-mile north of the pier, Panis said.
“They’re getting to be fairly common,” Panis said of sharks showing up off the coast.
In June, Panis told the Los Angeles Times, “I’ve seen more white sharks this year than I have in the previous 30.”
Juvenile sharks feed on fish and are unlikely to bite humans, scientists say.
A 2014 survey found there were about 2,400 great white sharks living in California waters, and Chris Lowe, head of the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach, said last year that he suspects that number has grown because of improved ocean-water quality and higher ocean temperatures.
But he said he wasn’t sure why Huntington Beach had become so popular with sharks.
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
