The Malibu Artist, also known as Carlos Gauna, is one of our favorite cinematographers. Not just because he’s good and captures beautiful imagery, but because he captures footage of great white sharks in the waters we all frequent as surfers: namely Southern California.
First off, this particular video caught my eye because it was taken via drone, and second, the size of the great white shark in the footage is absolutely giant. Now, sharks may not come in contact with humans in Southern California very often, but they’re certainly out there. And if you’ve been surfing in the region’s waters long enough, you’ve probably come in contact with one yourself (I first met Fluffy near the San Onofre nuclear plant).
In this instance, Mr. Gauna tries to size up this massive shark as it swims next to a boat. “Believe it or not,” Gauna says, “I found the registration number for the boat online, and an ad selling the exact boat, which gave me the boat size. With the engine, it’s 18 feet long.”
Using pixels in the footage, Gauna measured the shark at 14 feet. Given the angle, though, it looks more like 18 feet, or roughly the same size as the boat. The shark might be pregnant, Gauna guesses, or at least at an age where it can reproduce. Especially given the shark’s girth (that thing has eaten well).
“Moments like this are why I do what I do,” Gauna says about being able to measure the shark via footage. I started the video, above, right at the point where he speaks to the measurements, but there’s plenty of great white footage throughout the 10-minute video that’s worth watching, all captured in the last month or so.
