Shark Attacks of California

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Shark Attacks of California

After the surf reports, the must-read for daily ... uh ... consumption, is the Pacific Coast Shark news at the Shark Research Committee. Exciting new entries surface every week or so: Real-life close encounters, or what the Shark Research Committee at this well-researched site calls “shark/human interactions.” You’ve probably got your own story if you’ve surfed long enough.

Shark Warning Sign at Beach

Mine was about ten years ago, in a sleepy lineup on a flat morning. Dolphins had been nosing around so we were acclimated to the sight of fins in the vicinity. That’s how one solitary fin, significantly larger than the rest, managed to thread into the thick of us, amazingly unnoticed at first. It’s hard to say how a lot of people get the exact same revelation at the same instant, but the reality hit about five of us simultaneously: “Shark!” everyone yelled in unison. The big guy was already one of the crew, so to speak, so well integrated into the lineup that it was hard to know which direction to paddle to get out of his way. I estimated his course on a direct intersect with my 9’6” and did the only thing I could think of, which was to pull my feet up out of the water. Even at the time, it seemed like a lame strategy. It was one of those “Wild Kingdom” moments: the uncomfortable acknowledgment that you’re totally out of your natural element and trespassing on his. This Menace of the Depths, however, politely dove and passed under me, and the next guy, and continued out to sea, oblivious to all of us. Still, everybody paddled in for a few minutes -- and I do mean everybody. A discussion afterwards concluded that it was a large thresher shark, a variety about as dangerous to humans as a golden retriever. Easy to say, on dry land.

I’ve heard of people who’ve surfed all their lives without seeing a shark, much less having an interaction. Of course, you don’t see them down in the water. But fly over the California coast in bright, high-noon sunshine at low altitude, particularly in a helicopter, and look straight down into the shorebreak. There they are.

Sounds pretty risky, but the Shark Research Committee has crunched the actual numbers. There were a grand total of 108 reported shark attacks on the California coast during the entire 20th century. Of those, only 12 were fatal. Think of other statistically unlikely ways to die and, given the number of people who stuck toe in water during an entire century, shark attack has to be one of the least likely ways to go -- though admittedly one of the more grisly. Compared to surviving the drive to the beach, the risk is mathematically small.

Still, some of the details make interesting reading. The median age of victims is 29. Divers are at most risk, with surfers in second place and swimmers a distant third. Per the latest figures, no one’s yet been attacked on a Jet Ski by a shark in California waters. You’re at greatest risk in September and statistically safest in June. Time-of-day stats probably say more about the hour of greatest human activity in the water than they do about a shark’s daily planner: the afternoon hour between two and three is the most hazardous. But there’s a smaller spike between 7 and 8 a.m., too, and that one’s entirely surfer attacks. And here’s a surprise: At what depth are you most likely to be attacked by a shark in California? I figured somewhere in the feet-dangling, over-the-head range where its deep enough to be pulled under easily. Not even close: Less than three feet is most common depth!

So those are the odds to get on the "Shark Attacks of California" list. Statistical chances of being killed by a swarm of bees, struck by a golfball-size meteorite -- or scraped off the pavement after a traffic accident on the freeway on your way to your favorite spot -- not available.

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Is there an unusually large amount of diving and surfing going on within three feet of water? Odd that this could be the most common depth yet the only ...