Last Friday morning, July 8, Mark Davis was fishing for squid bait just offshore Capitola, near Santa Cruz. Little did he know, a large great white shark was passing by, and then things got interesting.
“It was a full on slam attack from down below. He came and hit the boat full speed and knocked it into the air. He wasn’t fooling around, and I’m glad it didn’t knock me out because I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the water. He was aggressive and fired up.”
Fortunately, he was not injured, and the impact didn’t knock Mark out of his boat.
Sean Van Sommeran, of the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation in Santa Cruz, said based on the teeth marks that were left on the boat’s bow, he believes the great white is at least 15 feet long and weighs a ton and a half.
The incident happened about a quarter mile offshore, and local lifeguards do not plan to close any beaches, or even put up warning signs.
Sharks are frequent visitors to the Monterey Bay area, and especially this time of year. In the past two summers, however, there has been a notable increase in sharks visiting the area. Sharks generally steer well clear of divers in the water, and divers should not
Sharks generally steer well clear of divers in the water, and divers should not be discouraged from diving one of Monterey’s popular dive sites. This is a great time of year to visit the area, with calm diving conditions and plenty of things for non-divers to do as well.
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