MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) — A new study has found a dramatic increase in the number of great white sharks swimming in Monterey Bay, including off Santa Cruz County where a surfer was killed last year.
The Mercury News reported the study published Tuesday found younger great white sharks that once concentrated in warm waters off Southern California have moved north since 2014 as water temperatures have warmed.
Those younger animals are between 5 and 9 feet long.
"After two or three years, they grow larger than 10 feet long and swim out to deeper, colder waters," the paper said. "Their teeth widen and become more serrated. They reach sizes of 17 to 19 feet long and eat sea lions and other marine mammals, often in colder waters in places such as the Farallon Islands."
Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Duke University and Cal State Long Beach spotted dozens of juvenile white sharks in the ocean between Aptos and Capitola, an area where the animals hadn't been spotted until recently.
A 26-year-old surfer was killed by a shark last year at Manresa State Beach in Santa Cruz County. He was attacked about 100 yards offshore by an "unknown shark species" and pronounced dead at the scene.
Related
