One Southland Shark Identified as a Harmless Sun Lover

County lifeguards have positively identified one of the sharks that have been cruising the waters in Santa Monica Bay during the last two weeks as a harmless, plankton-eating basking shark.

Lifeguards identified the 18-foot shark through pictures taken by county officials from one of the rescue boats that have been patrolling the northern end of the bay, where more than a dozen sightings of 15- to 20-foot sharks have been reported in the last two weeks.

“There was one shark that we saw that may have been a large thresher (shark), but the picture confirms our belief that we’re dealing with a bunch of basking sharks,” said Capt. Steve Saylors, a lifeguard with the county Department of Beaches and Harbors. “We’re still going to keep looking, but it lets us breathe a little easier. In each case where we’ve been able to identify one, it’s turned out to be a basking shark.”

Large Amount of Plankton

Saylors said that schools of basking sharks have been flocking to the area because the water is currently covered with blankets of plankton. The size of the sun-loving sharks, and their man2032169832dangerous great whites, generated a great deal of concern among local surfers, swimmers and sailors, who flooded lifeguard stations with calls after the sightings were reported.

One sighting was called in by West Los Angeles resident Maureen Tieman, who said she was sailing with her husband and son about one mile off Santa Monica Beach last Sunday when they spotted a two-foot high dorsal fin coming out of the water. On closer inspection, they spotted a shark that they estimated to be at least 15 feet long.

Like ‘Jaws’

“It was just out of ‘Jaws,’ ” Tieman said. “There we were sailing when someone said, ‘We have some company.’ I was scared to death. You could see the gills, the head, everything. It was huge.

“Of course, my son and husband thought it was wonderful. They kept saying what a great day it would be for fishing. Later that night after we got home, they went out and rented ‘Jaws.’ ”

Lifeguards said Friday that there had been no sightings reported close to the beaches since Wednesday. Most of the plankton beds are located farther offshore.

“I think the picture reduces the likelihood that there was a great white in the area, but you can’t be too safe,” Saylors said. “The water is warming up and that will probably mean that we’ll see less of them (basking sharks). But we’re still going to keep our eyes open.”