SAN DIEGO – A group of what appears to be juvenile sharks were caught on video at Torrey Pines State Beach feeding on a dolphin just off the coast. Park rangers say it’s a good reminder of the predators flocking to San Diego beaches, especially as we enter the summer months.
Around noon on Sunday, California State Parks responded to a notification of a shark spotted around 30-40 yards from shore near lifeguard tower No. 7. Video shows multiple sharks snacking on a dolphin which washed up along the beach a few minutes later.
San Diego shark expert and oceanographer Manuel Lazcano calls the incident a good sign of a healthy environment.
“The shark is the top predator of the ocean, and they will eat wounded animals and very young animals and they will attack them by surprise,” Lazcano said.
To practice safety, State Park Peace Officers posted shark warning signs along tower No. 7 High Bridge access point to the north boundary with Del Mar city.
“Your ears kind of prickle when you see that sign, but we’re used to it a little. You always know they’re out there,” surfer Jess Cauble said.
Officials with the park issued this statement to FOX 5 Monday afternoon:
“State Parks would like to remind visitors that sharks are an important part of the coastal ecosystem and that interactions between humans and sharks are rare along the coast of Southern California. Additional information regarding sharks along the coast of Southern California can be found at https://www.csulb.edu/shark-lab.”
– Jorge Moreno, Information Officer, California State Parks
It’s now a common spectacle, keeping onlookers at bay with eyes peeled toward the horizon for a glimpse of one of the ocean’s fiercest predators. It’s a sight surfer Rolf Silbert saw just moments before we interviewed him.
“We were looking at the waves just now, my son and I … and we saw at least an 8- or 10-foot shark jump out of the water, all the way out of the water,” Silbert said.
The incident comes months after a dead juvenile great white washed ashore Torrey Pines State Beach along with an attack in Del Mar in November of 2022.
Although attacks are a rare encounter, expert Chris Lowe with CSULB Shark Lab says juvenile great white sharks are also swarming to North County. He and his team have tagged and are monitoring 40 sharks near the area that are now veering down south into Torrey Pines.
“One reason they like hanging out at those beaches is because it’s safe … We’re just guests in their home, their numbers have come back because we have protected them, and that’s a good sign that our ocean is getting healthy,” Lowe said.