I don't know if I would have had the nerve to stay in the water, but that is an awesome sighting.

You kept your cool; good for you!

I consider not pooping myself a victory.

who hangs in Oceano, CA. We have many more coming through but this guy is tame it seems with the surfers. Worst was killer whales two weeks ago tormenting a baby whale holding it down for 5 hrs to suffocate in Morro Bay. Evil they are. Sea World go to hell. We are hoping kiler whales don't return for 10 years.

I would guess that they were teaching their calves in hunting. In Alaska I've seen this on many occasions. They would grab a seal drag it out let it go and the calf would try to get it. Normally the mother would have to retrieve it several times before the calf was able to kill it and normally it would be exhausted to the point of death by then.

It used to be "too far north," but the water off Cape Cod has been warmer in the last few years than before, and we now have thousands of seals, even as far north as Provincetown. Since seals are shark gourmet dinner, the great whites have followed their snack bar right up the coast. There were sightings galore last year, and for the first time in nearly a century, attacks on humans.

Thought it was a weird plastic bag floating next to me and was told to swim away carefully....it moved with me with the current. Scary assed things!

but I spend a bunch of my childhood and young adult hood swimming, floating, and playing around just past where the waves break on various so cal beaches. Sometimes body-surfing. I knew there were things I couldn't see, and, to be honest, I knew I was lying when I convinced myself that they were further out; that as long as I could touch the bottom, or touch it within foot or so from the surface, they weren't there.

My last trip into the surf was in 1990 somewhere near Santa Monica. I worked my second job until 2 AM, knew I wouldn't sleep, got into my car and headed for the beach, and there, wrapped in a blanket, listening to the surf, I slept until the morning crowd arrived, then swam for a few hours. I wasn't paying attention. I didn't notice that everyone else had disappeared. Suddenly something surfaced, with a splash, right next to me and nearly gave me a heart attack. It turned out to be the life guard, who asked me why I didn't notice that I was caught in a riptide, that everyone else had gone to the beach, and that I was way too far from shore. Yup. There were ants on the distant shoreline; I'd never been that far out before. He helped me back. I'd swim for all I was worth until I couldn't swim any more, making almost no progress at all, and then he'd tow me ten or twenty yards; then I'd swim hard to hold my place while he rested, and we'd go again, until finally I got back. The crowd cheered him, I thanked him, and that was it. A coincidence, really; I moved away from beach access. Still...

I'm so glad you got rescued.

She was visiting me while I was in Boston, and she decided to try the beach at Ipswich while I was at the office downtown. She suddenly noticed she couldn't swim back to shore, and in those days her English wasn't very good, and she didn't understand what the people on shore were shouting to her. She eventually made it back, expending the last of her energy before it gave out, but it frightened her something fierce. She never EVER swam out that far again, and even today, 35 years later, only goes farther than 20 meters off shore when there are a lot of other people around.

in Encinitas, CA.

I was about 16 or 17. Excellent swimmer--used to swim competitively.
There with a friend who had gotten out. Lifeguard on the beach.
I realized, all of a sudden, I was caught in a riptide and not going to get out
coming to shore. I hollered for help, but nobody realized I was in trouble. Pummeled by waves, go under, come up, catch your breath,
bam, another wave gets you. I realized if I was going to survive, I had to do it myself. I knew enough to swim out past where the waves were breaking and then head parallel to shore until I could finally come in on the waves
and not have them suck me back out again. I have never been so exhausted when
I finally got in on the beach.

To this day, I don't like going in the surf. About 15 years later, I was PADI certified for open water diving. But I really hated
diving from the beach. Give me a boat dive any day.

bet that had more effect than cold water! if ya know what I mean.

Most are in the 5-8' range, and are sighted by locals on a near daily basis. The one I saw yesterday was outside the normal size range. I was on an 8' longboard, and the animal that swam by me was clearly bigger.

The little one hang out near shore to feed, and avoid being eaten by mature great whites.

The juveniles are up to about 10 feet.

Still, you are right. Apparently the Manhattan Beach area has plenty of the juveniles this time
of year before they move south to Mexico.

And this group requests that you report sightings:

http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/pacific_coast_shark_news.htm

I decided to do it and just finished submitting it.

Well played, well played indeed.

maybe because I'm not from California, but I'd have hightailed it out of the water and not gone back in...