Central Coast local captures more shark activity on camera than ever before

Ocean swimmers and land-based experts are reporting increased shark activity off the California coast.

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On Aug. 13, the National Weather Service reported a 90% chance that a “very strong” El Niño will develop in the Northern Hemisphere this fall. Beyond promising a wetter winter for the state, the seasonal weather pattern is already bringing white sharks to the California coast as they follow warmer water.

“It’s just going to get busier as the summer and fall wears on due to the forthcoming strong El Niño,” Christopher Lowe, a marine biology professor and the director of the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach, told SFGATE in an email. “We’ve seen this in the past (e.g. 2015) and are expecting more juvenile white sharks.”

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While sharks can sometimes be spotted in the area during this time of year, the effects of El Niño are bringing them farther up the coast. Young sharks are unable to retain heat in cold water, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

“Until they are massive enough to keep warm even in cold water, they stay in places within their favorite temperature range,” according to Salvador Jorgensen, a marine ecologist at Cal State Monterey Bay. 

Lowe said that temperatures in Baja California, Mexico, are now too warm, driving the sharks farther up the coast toward California. 

“Our data suggests that white sharks do not like water temp warmer than 82 deg F,” he wrote. “Waters off Baja are already hitting those temps, which means that water temps off So and Central CA hit the sweet spot of water temps for white sharks.”

Sharks have been spotted in Southern California waters as well. In April, a Huntington Beach surf competition was postponed when a 10-foot shark was discovered off the coast. 

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David Steiner has been capturing drone footage of great white sharks in Pismo Beach since 2024. But this year, he said he’s seen more than ever before.

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“Every single time I’d see sharks, and at first when I heard people saying that this El Niño was gonna bring more sharks, I was like, ‘No, they’re already here,’” Steiner said. “But this year, I would say yes, there’s more sharks. The last time I went, I flew for eight minutes and saw four, so I was, like, ‘OK, that’s not normal.’”

Other tropical and subtropical sharks are making their way north, too. Near Monterey, Lowe said fishermen may spot hammerhead sharks. He said it’s unclear, though, how this will change the feeding patterns of adult sharks in the area. 

Steiner said that, as a surfer for over 30 years, he preferred to stay in the dark about the number of great whites in the ocean. But as a paddleboarder, they became hard to ignore. 

“I think for a while there, people were kind of spooked,” Steiner said. “… Surfers in general just have a lot of respect for the environment they go in, and they go in it with the acceptance, and now we know that we’re encountered unknowingly by sharks a lot more than we thought.”