Summer Of The Shark II?

As southern California surfers we’ve all been able to rationalize our safety in the water by the fact that no surfer has ever been killed by a shark south of Santa Barbara (click here for a list of California attacks for the last five years). But today’s news about swimmer Dave Martin, 66, of Solana Beach, California being killed by a 12 to 17 foot great white shark while training with a group of triathletes 150 yards off shore in Fletcher’s Cove sent a chill through the entire beach community.

Sadly, this isn’t the first white shark spotted in San Diego County lately. Scott Bass, the host of surf talk radio show Down The Line spoke about finding a baby Great White at Cardiff Reef on April 11 during his April 13, 2008 podcast.

Two days ago in the morning I was surfing Cardiff Reef,” Bass said. “Not only did I see a great white shark, but I picked it up by the tail. It was a baby great white. It was probably three feet long. It swam right up to my board and at first I was obviously freaked out. Tough guy me had my arms and legs in the air screaming for my mom. And I pushed it away and it was just such a facinating creature that I found myself paddling up to it. . . . It went way into the shallows where the river was running out and it looked like it was trying to beach itself. So I literally got off my board picked the shark up by its tail and held it up. There were people walking by taking pictures.”

Down The Line co-host Marty Thomas joked at the time about where the baby shark’s Mom and Dad were. Guess we all know now.

So far no Carlsbadistan beaches have been closed, however, recommendations (like the one shown above) have been posted at South Carlsbad State Beach. State beach patrolman we spoke to in the Tamarack Beach parking lot said they had no plans to issue any more closures.
While there were three surfers out at Tamarack, talk in the parking lot was obviously all about the shark, the attack, and how people feel about it. One Carlsbad local seemed to think that the shark was no longer in the vicinity. “That thing is all the way to Guadalupe Island by now,” he said. Another surfer agreed. “Those things can swim 8 miles like nothing.”

Hopefully, that is the case because as well all know, those offshore winds are going to blow this weekend and a lot of people are going to want to be in the water.

[Links: San Diego Union-Tribune, Associated Press, LA Times, and Surfer Magazine]