Paul Frederiksen has seen three sharks in his 20 years surfing San Diego shores. But that doesn’t stop him from getting back in the water.
“There’s so much enjoyment that surfing brings, and to not surf, we couldn't do it,” Frederiksen said.
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Courage knows no age. Shark sightings aren’t keeping 11-year-old Noah Simpson away, either.
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“I was kind of scared," he said. "But when I got in the water, I felt fine. It’s already had its meal.”
A shark advisory was lifted Saturday at South Carlsbad State Beach after witnesses saw a shark there Friday afternoon.
This timing of seeing an increase in sharks is not a coincidence: Summertime is shark season in Southern California.
As more sharks tread close to San Diego shores, it’s important to remember the ocean is their home, and we’re just visitors.
Andrew Nosal, a biology professor at Point Loma Nazarene University, says we have many different species of sharks that live off our shores — with most being harmless to people.
One species that has the potential to harm humans is the white shark due to its size. Nosal said these sharks are typically between 8 and 10 feet long at maturity.
Researchers want to make sure the public knows that although shark sightings are more common now, shark-and-human interaction is still rare in San Diego.
“It's perhaps a bit counterintuitive,” he said. “We have sharks in our backyard, so we may want to be scared or at least have a certain degree of respect for them. But we should also be happy to see them because it means that the marine ecosystem is healthy.”
