Newport Beach officials shuttered two miles of beach after a shark was spotted circling a surfer. Photo: Screenshot//KTLA5
Newport Beach Fire Department announced a closure of a two-mile-long stretch of beach on Thursday, March 26, after a juvenile eight-foot great white shark was spotted circling a surfer. The incident occurred at Tower 32 on 35th Street around 1:15 p.m., leading to a four-hour closure of the beach one mile in each direction of the sighting.
In a statement on social media, the fire department said they requested a helicopter flyover along with surveillance and rescue vessels to search for the shark. Beach closure and shark-sighted signs were posted along the corridor.
“Shark sightings are rare along our coastline,” Newport Beach Fire Department wrote in the statement. “When observed, these animals are typically transiting through the area. Out of an abundance of caution, we ask that the public avoid the water in this vicinity until the all-clear is issued.”
The beaches were reopened at 5:45 p.m.
“The shark was behaving on a more aggressive side, didn’t bite or anything like that,” Newport Beach Lifeguard Capt. Gavin Wright told KTLA5. “But it did circle her three times, so we did feel like it was necessary to take that precaution.”
Chris Lowe, a marine biologist at Cal State Long Beach, said it’s common for sharks to frequent Southern California beaches.
“Pretty much all the time there are probably juvenile white sharks swimming right by people in the water,” Lowe told KTLA5. “They don’t know the sharks are there. They are using our beaches as nurseries. It’s a safe place for them. There are lots of things for them to eat like stingrays. The water is warm. So quite often, that means their nurseries are the same places we like to play.”
