The Dorsal Fin

A photo taken off Encinitas, California has been making news as of late. San Diego’s CBS 8 reports that the photo was taken off Swamis beach, and that a “local shark expert who confirmed that the shark in the photo is a 10 to 12 foot great white.”

While the CBS 8 report seems to take the stance that the image does, in fact, show a large shark, Encinitas Lifeguard Sgt. Robert Veria told CBS 8 that he believes the image is that of a surfer performing a duck dive and that the “fin” seen in the picture is merely the bent leg of the surfer. Additionally, none of the surfers in the water, many of whom appear to be in close proximity to the shape that is being referred to as a shark, reported seeing a shark.

A report on the photo also appeared on The Early Show which airs nationwide on CBS.

Is this an image of a white shark’s caudal fin or just a surfer’s leg? Feel free to sound off in the comments, if you have an opinion on the photo.

CBS 8 is reporting that a 2-mile stretch of Mission Beach in San Diego was closed yesterday following a shark sighting by a veteran lifeguard. The lifeguard reported seeing a dorsal fin approximately 18″ in height, which he believed to belong to a white shark.

The beach reopened this morning. However, CBS-8 is now reporting that a second shark sighting occurred at Mission Beach this morning.

YouTube user SeabearVideo has posted a video which opens with the sub-title “Possible Great White Shark Tries to Attack Surfer” and then goes on to feature some surf footage during which a dark shape can be seen swimming alongside one surfer catching a wave and then underneath another surfer paddling in the opposite direction.

The footage was shot near San Diego, according to the video description, so the presence of a white shark in that area this time of year certainly wouldn’t be unheard of. However, the shadowy shape is fairly indiscernible in the video. So, is this just a shark or other marine animal out for a swim or could it possibly be a white shark attempting to attack one of the surfers? If you’ve got an opinion on it, sound off in the comments.

San Deigo’s CBS 8 has been pretty “sharky” in recent days, in addition to a story about Sharksuit designer Neptunic, they also recently ran a story about anchorman Craig McKee’s phobia of sharks.

McKee describes himself as “deathly afraid of sharks,” and psychiatrist Dr. Michael Lardon notes that McKee appears to have a true phobia of sharks, as opposed to just a common fear of them. McKee speculates that some of his fears may come from the movie “Jaws” and shark attack headlines that he sees “on a regular basis.” McKee’s fear of sharks is so intense that he won’t go any further than knee-deep in the water.

However, McKee found a motivator to overcome his fear of the ocean in his wife’s desire to go sea kayaking. McKee joined his wife on a sea kayaking trip this past Monday and returned unscathed. Dr Lardon recommended repeated efforts to confront these types of fears in order to overcome them.

A fellow anchorman at CBS 8 points out that since 1926, only 2 fatal shark attacks and 16 total attacks have occurred off the coast of San Diego.

The San Diego Union Tribune article, Fisherman releases great white, reports that Jeff Patterson, a client of Conway Bowman of Bluewater Bowman, hooked a small great white shark off La Jolla (San Diego, CA) on July 17, 2009. Bowman estimated the shark to be around 6′ (1.8 meters) in length and 150 lbs (68kg) in weight. The white shark was hooked on a a fly-rod and was brought it within 25 minutes of being hooked. After removing the fly from the white shark’s mouth, both Patterson and Conway patted the shark on the head, and then the shark was released back into its natural environment. Bowman was quoted as saying, “To see a great white shark that close is the pinnacle of my guiding career.” Patterson also caught and released 3 mako sharks and 8 blue sharks over the course of his two-day fishing trip with Bowman.

It’s refreshing to see a news article about a white shark without any references to Jaws, monsters, killers, etc. It’s also refreshing to read about responsible fishermen respecting the sharks that they’ve caught and safely releasing them back to their environment. In fact, upon visiting Bowman Bluewater’s website, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they are sponsoring a catch and release mako tournament in which the proceeds of the tournament will go to the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Casting for Recovery. The proceeds donated to the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research will be used for research on Southern California mako sharks.